Perchance to Dream
by Shtuff
Summary: AU. "I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like... is any of this for real? Or not?"
1. Prologue: Awakening

**Disclaimer: **Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

**I would like to take a moment to assure you that I'm not giving up on my other works-in-progress, especially Sunrise. Sometimes an idea demands attention, and you have to go with it. Anyway, on with the story.**

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**Sora settled on the tree, the odd one that grew out like a bench. Sunset over the ocean. Oh, how he had missed seeing the water glow with dazzling colors as the sun went to bed beyond the horizon! It seemed like much longer than a year and a half.

The boy glanced over at his companion, a sad smile on his face. Riku. Sora would do anything for his friends, had done nearly everything for them. He watched his silver-haired friend gaze out over the ocean, and he realized that Riku, too, had missed this.

It seemed like so long ago that the two boys had stood on the beach, making plans for their raft. Best friends.

Sora's gaze dropped to the ground. That friendship had been tested to the point of breaking, had broken at one point. Could they ever go back to how things were? Or would they have to start over, build a new, stronger friendship?

"You're awfully quiet," Riku commented. Sora looked back at his friend. Riku hadn't moved—he was still leaning against the tree, eyes fixed on the distant horizon.

"Yeah," Sora murmured. "I've been thinking…" His voice trailed off, and Riku looked over at him.

"About?" Riku prompted.

"I'm glad you're my best friend, Riku. Even after everything… I'm glad that we made it back."

A ghost of a smile played around Riku's lips. "Yeah, yeah. Ditto, same to you, and all. Now, enough of this sentimental junk," the older boy said gruffly, crossing his arms and returning his gaze to the ocean.

Sora couldn't help smiling. Riku had never been one for sharing his feelings, and whenever Sora did, he changed the subject as quickly as possible. Even so, Sora had no doubt that Riku felt the same way.

Sora looked back at the ocean, taking in the colors that painted the waves. The silence grew longer, but before it had a chance to become awkward, Sora spoke again. "Hey Riku. What do you think it was—the door to the light?"

Riku chuckled. The sound was odd and unfamiliar—Riku emanated sadness and regret. To hear laughter coming from him was as odd as snow in the summer. The silver-haired teen straightened and looked over at Sora. Some of the sadness had disappeared from his eyes.

"This," he said, reaching out and tapping Sora's chest.

Sora reached up as Riku pulled his hand away, puzzlement evident on his face. "This?" he repeated, placing his hand over his heart.

"Yeah. It's always closer than you think."

Sora let his hand drop and stared at Riku. Something told him Riku was trying to tell him something else, something that he needed to know. He opened his mouth, ready to question Riku's cryptic comment.

"Sora! Riku!"

The two boys turned as one. Sora jumped down from his perch and cried out a gleeful, "Kairi!" His face lit up, bright enough to expel the darkness from the darkest heart.

Kairi jogged over to Sora and Riku, holding a glass bottle in her hand. She stopped in front of them, panting slightly from running all the way across the island.

Sora took a step forward, wanting to reach out to the redhead. Whenever he was around her, his heart filled up until he felt like it would burst. _Riku… Kairi… You guys were what kept me going the whole time._ The brunet wanted to do nothing more than gather Kairi in his arms and never let her go.

Instead, he moved back slightly and asked, "Hey, what's up?" He knew Kairi as well as he knew himself, and he knew that Kairi was not athletic in any sense of the word. The only reason she would have run all the way to see them was if something was wrong.

Kairi took a moment to catch her breath, then held out the bottle. "Look," she said, worry clouding her voice.

Inside the bottle was a piece of paper, rolled up and sealed. The seal was King Mickey's.

Sora's eyes widened. "From the King?" he asked, reaching out and taking the bottle from Kairi's outstretched hand. Something inside of him told him that this was going to be big, something that would change everything. Sora pulled the cork out and shook the paper out of the bottle into his eagerly waiting hand.

Without a moment's pause to evaluate the mixed feelings of trepidation and excitement that brewed inside of him, Sora hastily unrolled the letter. He barely noticed when Riku and Kairi moved closer to see the message from the King. His eyes were fixed on the strange script, and for a moment, his mind refused to process the words written on the page.

_"It's time to wake up, Sora."_

Sora studied the message, confused. "Riku? Kairi? _What_ does it say?"

No response. Sora looked up and his stomach dropped. Riku and Kairi were gone. The bottle and the letter fell unheeded from Sora's hands as he spun around, frantic.

"Riku! Kairi! This isn't fun—" Sora's voice faded away. All around him, Destiny Islands was dissolving.

His breath came in short pants and he had to focus on not passing out. The ground fell out from beneath him and he plummeted away from Destiny Islands into darkness.

_… Is any of this for real? Or not?_

_ I want to line the pieces up._


	2. Confusion

**A lot of this chapter is old--as in, I wrote it about a year ago, old. Which is part of the reason why I'm uploading this relatively quick (that, and the prologue was short and I didn't want to torture you guys too much). Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, and I'd love to hear what you think. After all, a writer is nothing without her readers. ;)

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The first thing that pierced the darkness was sound. Sora could hear a steady beeping, a sound unlike anything he had ever heard before. It was strange and unfamiliar, but it reassured Sora, telling him that there was something other than darkness.

The boy focused on the sound and tried to steady his erratic, panicky breathing. He would be useless to his friends if he couldn't calm down. Sora floated in the darkness, waiting for something to happen. If it was the Heartless, he should see their glowing eyes coming for him.

Instead, something completely unexpected happened. Sora felt something cold and hard touching his face. It crept up behind his ears on either side, draped down his cheeks, and ended in his nose.

Panic returned full force and Sora flailed for a moment, attempting to wrench the thing away from his face. Instead, he felt more things tugging at his arms. Each tug was accompanied by a sharp pain, and soon, his arms felt like they were on fire.

Sora forced his arms to relax and the pain went away after a minute. Darkness pressed all around him, mocking him and hiding his tormenters from him. As panic and claustrophobia threatened to seize control once more, Sora realized that his eyes were closed.

Silently berating himself for not noticing sooner, Sora forced his eyes open. The act took more energy than it should have. Above him, the teen could see a ceiling, but it was blurred by a pane of glass that covered him. He glanced around, briefly noting that he seemed to be in a… tube of some sort.

Confusion once more rose to the surface when Sora glanced down at his arms, determined to find the source of the pain he had experienced not even five minutes ago. His eyes widened and he lifted up his arms—as much as the tight space would allow—to examine the tubes and wires that were attached.

Sora jerked, surprised, when the glass barrier slid open silently, freeing him from his prison. He sat up, looking around with wide eyes. _This room… It seems familiar. Have I been here before?_ Sora studied each item in the room carefully—books, computer terminals, a row of lockers, other tubes like his own—trying to pin down the elusive memory.

After a minute, the boy realized that he was running out of time. Maleficent, the Heartless, whoever was keeping him captive, would be along soon. And he still had to find Riku and Kairi. If they were even here, where ever _here_ was.

Sora studied the devices attached to his skin. The ones with flat, pale-colored circles on his skin with thin wires leading out looked as though they would be the easiest to remove. He carefully pulled the first one off his arm, expecting... something, _anything_ to happen.

Nothing.

With a renewed sense of urgency, Sora began tearing the wires off his skin. A light on one monitor nearby began flashing, compelling Sora to hurry.

Once all the wires were gone, Sora ripped a tube away from his face—the thing that went up his nose and had fresh air coming out of it—and turned his attention to the tubes attached to his arms. He tugged on one gently and a sharp pain traveled up his arm. _All right. It's being held in there somehow. What if I just pull?_ Sora slowly pulled, ignoring the pain. A needle appeared where the tube met flesh. After a long, agonizing minute, it was out.

Sora let out a breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding. "Right. One down, three more to go," he muttered, surprised at how gravelly and… unused his voice sounded. He pushed the observation—and the questions that accompanied it—away and focused on getting loose and finding Riku and Kairi. The sooner he located his friends, the sooner they could discover a way back to Destiny Islands, where they had been when he last remembered. It was fuzzy, but he could see their faces and feel the sand beneath his feet and the wind running through his hair—paper in his hands, but what the message had been he didn't know.

Later. He would think about that later. For now…

Clamping his eyes shut, Sora tugged out the remaining needles. Small dots of blood rose to the surface, but he ignored those. There were more important things to be dealt with.

He hefted himself out of the tube, holding on to the side for support. His legs suddenly refused to support him and his whole body was telling him to simply lie down and go to sleep. Sora blocked out the pain, weakness, and exhaustion, and instead focused on standing.

He took labored steps toward the row of lockers on the far wall. One of the doors was halfway open; he kept his eyes fixed on the dim shapes within, hoping that it would contain something useful.

After what seemed like ages, Sora reached the locker. His muscles burned and rebelled against even the slightest movement, and for a moment, he felt like giving up, like just sitting down and waiting for the Heartless.

_Riku. Kairi._

Instead, he pulled on the door. It swung outward, revealing a shirt and a pair of pants, carefully folded and left, it seemed, just for him. Sora gathered the garments into his arms and—with a little difficulty—dressed, disposing of the shorts he had woken up wearing.

The clothes were odd, definitely not his. The shirt was a deep blue, unusually soft, and had long sleeves. The pants were black and just that—pants. He inspected them critically—on Destiny Islands, they had run around in shorts year round. As he studied the pants, a more serious issue presented itself—he had no shoes.

Sora glanced in the locker, searching for shoes; his eyes widened and panic starting to creep up on him again. His Keyblade wasn't there, either. He reached out and grabbed hold of the locker with his left hand as his vision started to swim and his legs began to shake. There was no way he could help Riku and Kairi without the Keyblade.

Light seemed to explode from the air around Sora's right hand and he jerked back in surprise. The Keyblade formed in his hand, pulling the light back into itself.

Sora hefted the sword, and his panic faded away. The Keyblade was different, a design he had never seen before. Silver and gold twisted together to form the shaft and teeth. Even though it was new, it felt natural, if slightly heavier than Sora would have suspected. The brunet frowned as his muscles screamed in protest. Odd. Very odd.

Ignoring his momentary weakness, Sora glanced around the room, looking for the door. There, nestled in the corner. Using the Keyblade as a makeshift crutch, he slowly made his way to the door. He was breathing heavily by the time he reached his destination. Leaning against the wall, Sora took a moment to pull air back into his aching lungs. Whatever had happened to him, he was in no condition to fight, that much was obvious.

Pushing away from the wall, Sora inspected the door. A small keypad was to the right of the door and a blinking red light crushed Sora's hopes of being able to sneak out. The door obviously required a password—a password he did not have access to.

Nervousness twisted Sora's gut. Once he opened the door, he would have to move as quickly as possible. Steeling himself for whatever might come next, he hefted the Keyblade into the air.

And brought it down on the keypad. Sparks shot out from the panel as the Keyblade crushed it and exposed the wires. With a dull whine, the red light flickered out and a quiet _click_ from the door told Sora that his goal was accomplished.

He lowered the Keyblade and opened the door slightly, peering out through the small crack. The hallway was clear—at least, what he could see of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, Sora pushed the door fully open and stepped into the hall, expecting to be pounced on by hordes of Heartless.

Nothing. Not a soul in sight. Just eerie silence and pale walls.

Feeling jumpy and more than slightly paranoid, Sora dragged himself down the hall, attempting to use the Keyblade as a walking stick while also keeping it handy in case the Heartless showed up.

His eyes darted nervously from side to side and the handle of the weapon kept slipping in his sweaty palms. Halfway down the hallway, his lungs decided to stop working briefly, caving under the strain, and he rested his body against the wall, panting for breath and feeling strange weariness settle in his bones. The Keyblade wielder looked behind him and despair washed over him. Not even fifteen feet and he was exhausted. He slid down the wall and hit the ground hard. The Keyblade slipped out of his hand and clattered against the unforgiving floor.

Sora looked from the door he had left to the endless hall in front of him. _I can't do this. I just can't._ Leaning his head back against the wall, Sora let his eyes drift shut. He was useless in this state. Even if he found Riku and Kairi, what could he do?

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_The door was heavy and refused to be moved. Donald and Goofy were trying to help, but the three of them couldn't budge it by themselves. The Heartless teemed on the other side, sensing healthy hearts close by._

_Speed was of the essence. The door had to be closed before the Heartless had a chance to flood the worlds. But no matter how hard the three pushed, the door simply would not close any faster._

_A hand grasped the door, and a voice called out, "Don't give up!"_

_Sora looked up, surprised._

_Riku appeared from the other side, pulling on the door and urging Sora on. "Come on, Sora! Together, we can do it!"_

_Strength flooded Sora's limbs. His best friend was here, determined to help Sora, Donald, and Goofy close the door. Everything would be all right. It was all going to go back to normal._

_The door began to close faster, speeded along by Riku pulling from the other side. The Heartless began to stir, agitated by the closeness of hearts. The door was almost closed, just a little more…_

_Riku glanced behind him. "They're coming!"_

_Sora gave a final shove, putting everything he had into it. The gap between the doors grew smaller, and he felt a moment of triumph. This was going to work._

_Riku turned around, his teal eyes meeting Sora's sea blue. His face softened, transforming him once more into the boy that Sora grew up with. "Take care of her."_

_Sora paused for a moment, realizing that Riku would be trapped inside with the Heartless. At the thought that his best friend might be gone forever, his vocal chords froze, but this sacrifice was required and he understood at least that, in spite of the growing crack in his heart. So he simply nodded, understanding who Riku meant. _

Kairi.

_As the doors finally slid closed, the last thing Sora saw was Riku smiling back at him, reassuring the younger boy that everything would fine, in spite of the loss and the pain. _

_Trying not to think about good-byes and focusing on duty and the salvation of the world, Sora jumped back, using his Keyblade to lock Riku inside with millions of Heartless. The door disappeared in a shimmer of light.

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_

_The Secret Waterway was dark, and the sound of dripping water echoed off the walls. Sora and Kairi stood several feet apart on the pathway, arguing on whether Kairi would go with Sora or stay in Traverse Town._

_ "Because it's way too dangerous," Sora said._

_ "Come on, Sora. We made it this far by sticking together," Kairi pleaded. "You can't go alone."_

_ "Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore. We'll always be together. Right?"_

_ Kairi closed her eyes for a moment, resignation stealing across her features. "You win," she finally admitted. She reached out and grabbed Sora's hand, taking him by surprise, but she only tenderly placed something in his palm and then stepped back._

_ Sora lifted his hand and looked at the object. A pink and yellow star charm. He smiled, remembering Kairi's silhouette on the beach, collecting seashells as the tides rolled in. _

_ "Take this," Kairi murmured. And then, in a typical Kairi moment, she changed her attitude completely, placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward. "It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me," she demanded, sounding younger than her fourteen years. _

_ Sora closed his fingers around the star. "Don't worry, I will."_

_ Kairi looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Promise?"_

_ The torches near the door flickered, throwing shadows over the water._

_ "Promise," Sora said sincerely, not knowing how much it would mean to both him and Kairi, not knowing how long it would be before he laid eyes on her again. _

_ Kairi was quiet for a moment, gazing at Sora. Her eyes softened, looking sad. "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."_

_ And that promise, those gentle words, gave him all the strength he needed.

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Sora's eyes blinked open. He was still sitting against the wall in the hallway, which dispelled the hope that this was all a bad dream. Reaching out, Sora wrapped his fingers around the handle of the Keyblade and pulled it closer to him.

_Take care of her._

_ Wherever you go, I'm always with you._

Determination flooded Sora, pushing him to his feet. His gaze fixed on the hall in front of him, he propelled himself away from the wall and resumed his long trek.

The Keyblade wielder was exhausted again by the time he reached the stairs. He collapsed on the first step and lifted his free hand to mop the sweat from his forehead as he stared forlornly at the twisting staircase, wondering how on earth he was ever going to make it to the top.

After a moment's consideration, Sora glanced around. There simply had to be another way. He would probably die if he attempted the stairs. Was a heart attack possible at fifteen? A strange-looking door just down the hallway caught his eye. He hauled himself off the step and over to the door.

Another one of those panels was situated next to the doors, its red light slowly blinking. Sora ignored the pain in his muscles and lifted the Keyblade once more, smashing it down against the keypad. The red light faded as several sparks jumped out in protest to the abuse.

The doors slid open noiselessly to reveal a small room, and he stepped inside cautiously, trying to keep the Keyblade in front of him in spite of his waning strength. After a pause, the doors slid shut again. He tried not to feel suffocated as they trapped him in, cutting off the light. But nothing happened, no shadows reached out claws to him, so he stepped back toward the door. Two steps and without warning, his stomach dropped. Unaccustomed to the feeling, he staggered backward, reaching out to the wall for support.

His fingertips connected with the cool metal, sending a welcome chill up his arm. The heat radiating off his body made him uncomfortable and the sheen of sweat coating his skin was a harsh reminder of his current weakness. A soft _ding_ filled the chamber and the doors slid open once more as Sora's stomach settled.

His hands shook and his mouth was suddenly too dry, but the brunet fought down the sudden bout of panic that threatened to immobilize him. Gathering his courage, he took a breath and stepped out of the lift.

The hallway was empty, but a quiet murmur of voices informed Sora that it wasn't likely to stay that way for long. He took several more steps into the opulently decorated hallway, glancing around for anything that would either provide cover or spark his memory.

For the first, there was an open door a short distance away and a large vase down the other way. As for the second… Nothing seemed familiar.

_Wait…_ A painting just down the hall, near the vase, caught Sora's eye. The painted landscape tugged at his memories, demanding to be recognized. Unable to tear his eyes away, Sora stumbled closer. _I… know this place… Don't I?_

A town on a hill, bathed in the light of the setting sun. A palace—not a castle—situated in the middle. Rolling hills turned into plains on one side, while they trailed down and eventually met the beach on the other. And beneath, carved into a plaque mounted on the frame, the title: _Radiant Garden_.

Sora reached out and ran his fingers lightly over the inscription. It was impossible, wasn't it? The painting was not of the Radiant Garden he remembered. He wrinkled his brow in confusion and leaned in closer, as if he could see all the details the painter's brush had left out if he only got close enough.

Someone bumped into Sora from behind. The brunet, knocked off balance, tumbled to the ground and lost his grip on the Keyblade. The weapon clattered across the floor, joined by a cascade of papers, before disappearing in a flash of light.

"Oh, just perfect. Of course, this has to happen the one day I'm already running behind schedule." The masculine voice gave off an air of irritation and exasperation.

Sora struggled to his feet while the other person rushed around him to gather up the fallen papers. "Hey! You could at least apologize for bowling me over like that!" The words left Sora's mouth before he even realized that he was speaking, but he pushed himself to his feet and glared at the back of the blond's head anyway.

The young man turned, his emerald eyes boring into Sora with an intensity that unnerved him. "Me, apologize? You were the one just standing there like no one else uses these hallways! If anything, you should apologize for getting in my way. You're lucky I'm in a hurry."

Sora stared at the blond, not believing what he was seeing. He looked like him, talked like him, even had some of the same mannerisms, but… it was impossible, wasn't it? He was dead—had faded away with a dying scream of pain and disbelief that still haunted Sora's nightmares.

The blond rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "You look like you've seen a gh—"

"Demyx?" Sora asked, forcing the name out around the frog suddenly occupying his throat. This was … impossible.

The look the blond shot Sora was indecipherable, but had "Demyx" written all over it. Sora struggled to comprehend what this might mean. Was he… dead? And what about Riku and Kairi?

"No, my name is Myde."

Sora barely registered the words, his mind desperately working to sort out what was going on. "But, that's impossible! I killed you! I watched you die…"

The blond snorted, hefting an instrument case in one hand and clutching his sheet music in the other. "You? Kill me? Sorry, kid, but you have me confused with someone else. This has been fun and all, but I really have to—"

"You don't remember? We fought, at Hollow Bastion. Organization XIII wanted Roxas back and you were under orders." Sora reached out and steadied himself with a hand against the wall, suddenly desperate for a spark of recognition in the blond's eyes. Even if Demyx had been his enemy, even if he dropped the act and attacked him, it would be worth it for something familiar in this foreign world.

"Organization… XIII?"

No such luck. Sora gaped at Demyx, who called himself Myde. "You… you don't even remember the Organization? You're all Nobodies who—"

"Hey, watch it, kid," the blond interrupted with a note of warning in his voice. "Don't go around calling me a nobody. I know I play in the back row of the orchestra, but just because I was rejected for the solo _again_ doesn't mean you can insult me!"

"Not that kind of nobody. Nobody's don't have hearts because—"

Demyx's face grew strangely blank, just like it had before their final confrontation at Hollow Bastion. "So now I'm a Heartless nobody. On top of which, I'm a _late_ Heartless nobody. The conductor doesn't like it when we're late to practice, but I'll give you one last chance. I need to leave, as delightful as this conversation has been."

Confusion took over Sora once more. Ever since he woke up, he had been subjected to an emotional roller coaster, and it was taking a toll on him. Sora wanted nothing more than to figure out what was happening and then sleep. He was positive that Demyx, the first familiar face he had encountered, could help him piece together some things.

"Demyx, you don't remember _anything_?" Sora practically begged.

Demyx let out a sigh. "All right, kid. Can't say I didn't warn you."

Sora opened his mouth to question Demyx once more when a wave unexpectedly crashed over him. For a brief moment, he froze as the sudden deluge swept him down the hallway. His lungs began burning, craving oxygen. Sora kicked to the surface and gasped for air as his head broke through the water. The wave carried him through a labyrinth of hallways and all Sora could do was try to keep his head above water.

The water sucked Sora under once more and he choked on a watery gasp of shock. His lungs were on fire. Sora tried to kick to the surface, but the constant tumbling had him merely guessing which way was up. Reason fled and panic settled in its place. Sora opened his mouth—unthinking in his terror. Water poured in and the brunet choked, blinking through black spots dancing across his vision.

As quickly as it had begun, the flood dissipated. Sora lay sprawled against a tile surface and pushed himself to his hands and knees, coughing up water. He inhaled deeply several times, ignoring the raw pain in his throat so he could savor the feel of oxygen moving through his lungs again. His muscles were trembling, though from lack of strength or fear, Sora wasn't sure.

Voices. It took him a moment to register what they were saying.

"—absolutely unbelievable! What in the world were you thinking, Myde?!"

"Hey! This was _not_ my fault, _Lea_! That… that… _kid_ over there made me late and wouldn't get out of my way! On top of which, he started calling me a Heartless nobody!"

"So, what? You decided to just flood out the _entire_ south wing so that you could _surf_ to practice?!"

"Well, what were you thinking, setting fire to the courtyard?!"

"I was thinking that _someone_ around here should try to get rid of the water, since _you_ weren't going to do it!"

"You completely overreacted!"

"No, _you_ completely overreacted! At least _I_ didn't try to kill the poor kid."

His energy wasted, Sora collapsed back onto the tile. He blocked out the argument taking place several feet over and instead focused on soaking up the warmth from the tiles and the sun's rays. Maybe he could just fall asleep here and figure everything out later. Kairi and Riku would understand.

A pair of hands grabbed his arms and hauled him upright, eliciting a brief yelp of surprise. Suddenly, Sora found himself face to face with a woman. She gave him a once over and, supporting his weight, turned to the two who had been arguing earlier.

"Are you two _insane_? First flooding the south wing and then setting fire to the courtyard? You are _so_ lucky the king doesn't condone capital punishment! Now, the two of you will clean up this mess, right now!"

"But, I have practice…"

"I need to find Kairi—!"

The woman fixed the two with a hard glare. "Now."

Demyx and the other—Axel?—glared at the ground and answered in unison. "Yes, ma'am."

The woman turned her attention back to Sora and smiled at him. Her brown eyes sparkled a little and she pushed a lock of blonde hair back behind her ear. The sudden change in demeanor was unsettling. "You're Sora, right?"

Sora stared at her, caught between feeling suspicious and safe. "Yeah."

The woman shifted her arm, gripping Sora a little tighter around the waist. She started walking, still supporting most of Sora's weight. "I'm Elena. The king has requested that I take you to him immediately."

Mind reeling, Sora threw caution to the wind and leaned heavily against her—content to let her do most of the work and not caring that he was soaking her suit jacket and pants. She didn't seem to mind either. Then her words registered. "The king?"

Elena pushed a door open with her free hand and guided Sora into what appeared to be an entry hall of sorts. "Yeah, King Ansem."

Sora's breath hitched.


	3. Desolation

**My sister's visiting this week, so I wanted to get this up before I get distracted. She's a great inspiration to keep writing, but when she's actually here, she's also a great distraction. But hey, what are sisters for? In other news, I'm going to have to buy a new copy of KH2. The one I have was actually hers and she'll be taking it home when she leaves.**

**On a Perchance related side note, I've added a section to the very end of my profile with the heading of "Perchance Concepts". I'll be adding links there for different art pieces that have inspired certain designs in Perchance. There's a picture of Sora's Keyblade up already, and I'll have a picture of Kairi's dress available.**

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After what seemed like ages of walking, Elena ushered Sora into an office.

The familiarity of the circular room tugged at Sora's memory, but it was strange enough to evade his mind's grasp. The walls were lined with bookshelves, which were packed with giant volumes, but in such a way that suggested a precise order and system.

Sora's eyes were drawn to the desk situated in the middle of the room. It was almost a crescent in shape and looked too large for the office. Several books lay open on the desk, almost as if the owner of this office had been interrupted in the middle of his studies.

As if compelled by those thoughts, Sora briefly glanced up toward the man sitting at the desk, expecting the worst. His eyes grew wide and he froze.

The man sitting behind the desk was familiar, but not in the way Sora had expected. Instead of long, silvery-white hair, this man had medium-length blond hair. The man gazed at Sora not with unfeeling gold eyes, but warm brown ones instead.

Sora tried to step back, but Elena's strong arm anchored him in place. "DiZ?" he gasped, feeling as breathless as the one time Riku had sucker punched him in the gut.

DiZ gestured to a nearby chair and Elena pulled Sora forward, whose mind was spinning too much to offer any protest to the less-than-delicate treatment. He collapsed into the chair and attempted to regain some sense of reality while Elena spoke.

"Myde ran into him first, Your Majesty. As best I can tell, they had a… disagreement. Lea and Myde are cleaning up as we speak." Her tone was business-like and clipped, a near opposite of the tone she had used with Sora. It sent shivers down his spine. Elena didn't seem like a person to mess with.

"And Kairi?"

Sora perked up when he heard Kairi's name spoken by DiZ. Kairi was here? Hope and, at the same time, dread washed through him. They had Kairi, which could mean all kinds of terrible things—_lifeless, empty eyes staring out at him from a face he cherished—_but in the end, that would make it easier for Sora to find her and he held onto that positive line of thinking with desperate determination.

"Lea still hasn't managed to find her." A hesitation. "Your Majesty, it might be possible that she went to see the Sea People again."

DiZ let out a sigh. "Keep Lea in the palace. Spread the word that Leon is looking for Kairi. Perhaps if it's not Lea chasing her, she'll realize the gravity of the situation and come home." Sora frowned, questions bubbling up inside. Nothing in this world made sense, only the faces, and even those were distorted. Who were the Sea People? And what relation did _DiZ _have to _Kairi, _his Kairi?

Elena nodded—it wasn't much more than a sharp jerk of her head—before she turned and started to walk out.

Sora watched Elena, fear building up inside. Fear of what, he didn't know. Fear of being alone with DiZ? Fear of not finding Riku and Kairi? Fear that his previous assumption was correct and he was dead? Perhaps a bit of all three.

Elena paused and her hand settled lightly on his shoulder. Sora glanced down in surprise and then looked back up at Elena. She gave him a soft, reassuring smile before continuing on out of the office. Sora felt the fear loosen some of its stranglehold—a little, but not nearly enough.

The door closed behind Elena and Sora turned back to DiZ, feeling alone and scared. His fingers wound around the fabric of his shirt, a nervous habit that always irked Riku. Thinking of his best friend only made his stomach want to climb up his throat so he forced away all the worry—_Riku, dead or dying or with Ansem's eyes—_and focused on the strange, but familiar man in front of him.

Maybe, just maybe, DiZ had some answers for this mess.

DiZ smiled at Sora, but the smile appeared strained and didn't reach all the way to his eyes. "I imagined this meeting going much differently, to be perfectly honest. But, I suppose I should start at the beginning. My name is Ansem. Some call me Ansem the Wise."

Sora knew the name; it lurked somewhere in the back of his mind, but his brain was too sluggish to dredge up names mentioned once or twice several months ago. Instead, he focused on the one thing that filled him with hope. "Where's Kairi?"

DiZ—no, Ansem—reached up and rubbed his brow. "My daughter enjoys running away from her bodyguard. However, I've sent Leon after her. Kairi should be back home by tomorrow."

Sora stared at Ansem, disbelieving. His mind was playing tricks on him, that was all. There was no way Kairi was his daughter! That would make Kairi… a princess? His breaths came faster and closer together as he tried to understand what Ansem was saying. Maybe… maybe Kairi would remember. He just had to see her, talk to her, and she'd tell him what was going on, that everything would be all right.

Sora pushed himself to his feet, determined to find Kairi. He ignored his muscles' dissent and Ansem's protests and took a step toward the door. But as soon as he let go of the chair and his full weight settled on his legs, his muscles refused to support him, letting him fall to the ground.

In a heartbeat, a man stepped out of the shadows to his side. Sora looked up at him in fearful surprise. Red hair, blue-grey eyes, crescent moons situated to the side and slightly under the eyes, a dark suit like Elena's. The man slipped his arm under Sora and hefted him upright, ignoring his spluttered protests.

"Reno, take him to the guest room in the north wing. We'll have to finish this discussion when he has fully recovered, it seems."

The red-head—Reno—lifted him and carried him out of the office. Sora's mind, already over-loaded, simply stopped processing anything more. Sora watched in a daze as hallways and people passed them by. A door opened, words were whispered to someone else, and he was falling again. Blankets were pulled up to cover Sora and he fell asleep, hoping wildly he would wake up on the beach with Kairi leaning over him calling him a lazy bum and laughing.

* * *

Darkness permeated the world. Buildings that were once beautiful were now crumbling all around. The decay of the world bothered him not. He had been in darkness for some time now—how long ago had he fallen? It didn't matter—darkness stood outside of time.

Darkness was silence, it was emptiness. Darkness hid him, hid his tainted thoughts. It calmed him, and he controlled it.

The darkness stirred. Somewhere, a long way off, a burst of light disturbed the darkness. Light. The very thought burned him, stirred up his anger and rage. Light of that magnitude had not been felt in ten years, not since…

His newest apprentice walked in, dragging the darkness with him like the cloaks they both wore. The younger stopped in front of him, silent. It had taken time, but the brat had finally learned that his master favored silence. After all, silence was the harbinger of the darkness.

He waited, sensing the turmoil of the darkness as it tried to flee from the light. After a while, the darkness settled once more. It refused to get closer to the source, though—it would need encouragement.

Finally, he turned to his apprentice. The cloaks hid their faces from each other much like the darkness in their hearts hid them from the worlds. "He is awake."

* * *

Sora stretched. How long had it been since he slept in a real bed with actual blankets? Too long, it seemed sometimes. His eyes flickered open and Sora stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, trying to figure out where he was. The bed was softer and wider than his bed at the orphanage and the ceiling was painted a soft blue instead of the usual blank white.

He jerked up and glanced around the room. He was alone.

Slowly, the events leading up to his current state came back to him. Looking around the room, slightly disoriented, Sora wondered how long he had been asleep, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the threat of despair that this hadn't been a dream after all. With a sigh, he swung his legs out over the edge of the bed and realized for the first time that he had fallen asleep in his clothes. He wiggled his bare toes and glanced around the room—no shoes in sight. Maybe in the closet?

Sora stood up carefully, remembering his collapse in Ansem's office. However, his muscles seemed stronger than before and his mind was processing his surroundings better. Overall, he felt as if he had just slept for the first time in ages.

He looked around the room, searching for a pair of shoes. The closet in the corner looked hopeful. He took a hesitant step toward the closet, still confused and unsure of where he was and what was happening.

The door burst open and Sora backpedaled away, surprise and a tinge of panic sweeping through him.

A girl stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. The light from the hallway behind her made it difficult for Sora to identify her. "All right, sleepyhead! Time to wake up and get—" Her declaration was cut short when she strutted in the room and saw Sora frozen in place between the bed and the closet. "Oh, you're already up. I bet you're wondering who I am. Well…" The girl struck what Sora assumed was supposed to be either a dramatic or heroic pose, but really only made her look like some kind of fish. "I am the champion of the earth and the sky! I am the conqueror of evil! The single white rose of Wutai! I am—"

Sora's eyes widened in disbelief. "Yuffie?" he blurted out, interrupting her midsentence.

Yuffie's hands dropped to her side as she studied Sora. "We've met?" she asked, her brow furrowed.

Sora started to respond, but his encounter with Demyx—Myde?—made him pause. He sighed softly and dropped his eyes to the ground. "No," he replied, his voice soft. "No, we haven't."

Yuffie, as energetic as ever, immediately began talking again. "Well, if we've never met and you know who I am, that can only mean one thing."

Sora looked back up at her, the questioning look on his face prompting her to continue, much to his dismay.

"I'm famous now! Word of my prowess with weapons must have traveled and now I have people seeking me out! Well, I'm sorry, but I work for the King, so I can't go with you and save your village or whatever unless Ansem gives the okay. But, he does want to talk with you, so maybe you're in luck!" Yuffie winked at him and headed back toward the door.

Sora was, for the first time in his memory, absolutely speechless. He stood frozen in the middle of the room, trying to decide what he was to do. Should he follow Yuffie, or should he continue on his way to the closet to find shoes?

The decision was made for him when Yuffie turned, already several steps into the hallway. "Well? Come on, already. Can't keep the king waiting!" She gestured impatiently with one hand and the other settled on her hip.

Letting out another sigh, Sora followed Yuffie out of the room and down the hallway. He knew her well enough—even if she had forgotten somehow—to know that telling her no was never an option. She got her way; the only thing that ever changed was whether she got her way peacefully or painfully.

A smile danced across Sora's lips as several memories floated to the surface.

_Yuffie, begging to hold Leon's sword. Leon, stoic as ever, arms crossed and shaking his head. Yuffie telling him he's just a big meanie._

Maybe the ninja had forgotten again, just like everyone did a few months ago?

Yuffie's voice brought him back to the present as he followed her down corridors. She was going on about… Aerith and Lea, or something like that.

"Hey, Yuffie?"

Yuffie's monologue stopped midsentence. "Yeah?"

"You mentioned… Wutai? What's that?"

A pensive look crossed Yuffie's normally care-free face. "Wutai was the name of my dad's weapon shop back in Midgar."

"Midgar?"

"Yeah, it was my home world back before it was consumed by the Heartless." In a heartbeat, Yuffie reverted back to her bright and cheery self, leaving Sora reeling again. "Here's Ansem's study! Don't forget to ask him about borrowing my services!" And with that, she bounced off down the hallway, humming to herself.

Sora turned and found himself in the doorway of the same office as before. His mind, well-rested and somewhat calmer—after all, who would treat a prisoner so nicely?—quickly catalogued the items that sparked a sense of familiarity. Memories began clicking into place and, unable to contain his revelation, Sora blurted out, "This was your study at Hollow Bastion!"

Ansem, seated once more behind his desk, smiled but his eyes appeared tired and unsure. "Yes." He spoke as he closed a book and pushed it to the side. "I modeled that study from this one, with some changes, of course." The king gestured to the same chair Sora had occupied on his last visit. "Please, sit down."

Sora walked into the room and lowered himself into the chair, still slightly wary. "Where am I? What's going on?" he demanded. "Where's Kairi and Riku?"

Ansem sighed and, for a moment, looked as if the weight of the worlds rested on his shoulders. "You have to understand, we were running out of time. It was never supposed to be permanent, but I didn't know what else to do." His voice sounded apologetic.

Ansem's tone unnerved Sora. A strange feeling settled in his stomach—the feeling that once he heard what Ansem had to say, nothing would be the same—and twisted his insides. Sora wiped his hands on his pants in an attempt to rid them of the clammy, cold feeling that had snuck up on him. "W—" He licked his lips and swallowed, trying to wet his dry mouth. "What are you saying?"

The king took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, almost as if he were steeling himself. Opening his eyes, he spoke. "You've been asleep for ten years, Sora."

Shock, surprise, disbelief, confusion—emotions flooded Sora and crashed around in his chest, each one demanding that he do something. Run, stay, attack, listen—his conflicting desires froze his muscles, trapping him in the chair. All he could do was stare at Ansem, trying to piece together what he knew with what Ansem was telling him.

"No. That's impossible," Sora protested, shaking his head. He could hear the tears building up behind his voice, could feel them threatening to pour out from behind his eyes. This was too big, too _much. _ And he couldn't… "I was just on Destiny Islands with Riku and Kairi. We fought Organization XIII and then went home. Me, Riku, and Kairi—we were all together at the island! How could I have been asleep?"

"We were running out of time. You showed up early and we had very few options. The Heartless were closing in and I had to do _something_. Even's team put you to sleep and designed an—"

The study door flew open, banging against the wall and making Sora jump. Ansem stopped talking, midsentence, and looked up toward the door. Sora turned in his seat, following the king's gaze.

Tidus stood in the doorway, eyes wide and tinged with panic, his chest heaving as he gulped in air. He was older—much older than Sora remembered—but it was clearly Tidus; the bright blond was impossible to forget. "Your Majesty," he gasped, "Heartless. Massive fleet. Headed straight for us."

Ansem shot to his feet, the abruptness of his actions upsetting several items on his desk. They clattered to the ground, unheeded. "What? That's not possible! Unless…" The king practically sprinted across the room toward a large painting hanging on the wall. He nearly tore it off in his haste; instead, it swung open to reveal a safe.

Sora sat frozen in his chair, confused and still attempting to process everything Ansem had told him—which wasn't all that much, but had still managed to turn his world, if it could still be called that, upside down. He watched as the king pulled the safe door open; the vault was empty.

Ansem spun around, fixing Sora with a stare that revealed a hint of desperation. "Did you summon the Keyblade?" he demanded.

Sora, his vocal chords frozen and unresponsive, could only nod.

The king ran a hand through his hair as he paced in front of the empty vault, muttering curses under his breath. After a moment, he stopped and directed his attention to Tidus. "Tidus, fetch Kairi. As soon as you have her, sound the alarm. Bring her to the shipyard."

Tidus nodded once and took off running down the hallway. His footsteps echoed down the corridor, the frantic beat fading as he got further away.

Ansem grabbed Sora's wrist and yanked him out of the chair and toward the door, shattering Sora's reverie. As the king hauled him out of the study, Sora managed to ask, "Where are we going?"

"There's not much time before the Heartless arrive. I must get you and Kairi off world as soon as possible." Ansem stopped in front of a lift as the doors opened. He ushered Sora inside before following. As the doors closed, a siren started in the distance and steadily grew louder, its distressing wail alerting everyone of the imminent danger.

The doors slid closed and Sora staggered backward as a falling sensation sent his stomach into a series of rises and dives. Ansem reached out and grabbed Sora's arm, steadying him.

"I apologize," he said with a forced smile. "My scientists were more interested in creating new systems and structures than providing accurate and realistic lift systems."

Sora opened his mouth, a question poised on his lips, when the lift stopped with a slight jerk, throwing him off balance with a startled gasp, and the doors slid open once more.

The room Ansem pulled Sora into was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was filled with ships—the designs very different from the gummi ships Sora had known. There were many large ones and a handful of smaller crafts that looked as if they could fit no more than five people comfortably. Most of them had smooth lines and elegant features.

Ansem glanced at Sora and, seeing the look of utter amazement displayed on the boy's face, gestured toward the ships with his free hand. "The royal fleet. Most of the airships are designated for refugee ships. They were all designed by Cid Highwind."

Sora heard the words, but he was focused on the people that had begun pouring into the hangar. Nervous chatter filled the air as people headed toward the larger crafts. Sora scanned the crowd, familiar faces jumping out at him.

Yuffie and Leon, the former talking—Sora could tell, even though he was too far away and it was too noisy for him to catch her words—and the latter looking as calm as ever.

Tifa and Aerith, both clutching small bags and hurrying, side by side, toward one of the airships.

Five men in lab coats, each carrying a huge box laden with papers. Several looked vaguely familiar, but they boarded one of the ships before Sora could identify them.

Sephiroth, nodding calmly as Cid gestured wildly, pointing to various controls in the cockpit of the small craft Sephiroth was seated in.

So many familiar faces, but nothing felt familiar at all.

"Father?"

The other people continued to rush by, but Sora was no longer paying attention to them. His heart was racing and his hands were sweating. Her voice… It sounded so familiar, and yet, just a little different, too. For a moment, all he could do was breathe. Finally, he forced himself to turn around.

There she was.

Kairi.

Her hair was longer than he remembered, but still the same rich hue. She held herself with confidence, even though her eyes revealed her fear. Her clothes were different as well—she was wearing a dress, the long skirt brushing the floor. The top was a pale yellow, not a color that Kairi normally wore but looked nice on her. The skirt was layered; the first was white with stars the same color as her top; the second layer was black and the third was simply white.

Sora took all the changes in a matter of seconds, but his brain was taking longer to process everything and what it all could mean. He let out a sigh of relief—she was safe, which was all that really mattered—followed by an exclamation of, "Kairi!"

Kairi, his best friend, the girl he had loved since they were six years old, glanced in his direction once before turning her attention back to Ansem. There had been no flicker of recognition, no little eye-smile that she always gave him.

Sora stood in shock, Ansem's deep voice and Kairi's lighter one washing over him. His mind simply refused to make sense of what they were saying, and the only thing Sora could focus on was, _Kairi doesn't recognize me. She doesn't know who I am. She … forgot? _

"Sora? Sora!"

Sora blinked and looked up at Ansem, forcing his attention back onto the situation at hand. There would be plenty of time to figure out what was going on—and have the breakdown he could feel building inside—later. "Huh?"

"You're going with Kairi, on this ship here. You must hurry. Get to Twilight Town; talk to Yen Sid. He'll explain everything. Go!" As he spoke, Ansem pushed Sora into one of the smaller aircrafts.

Kairi was already strapped in, a look of sheer determination on her face as she punched buttons. The engines fired up as Sora fell into his seat. The noise forced Ansem to raise his voice in order for the two to hear him.

"Remember, find Yen Sid! Kairi, you'll have to take care of Sora now. Don't forget everything I've told you. And Sora… trust your heart. It's stronger than you know."

Kairi leaned past Sora, hope and sadness mixed in her expression. "You'll meet us there, in Twilight Town, right?"

Ansem stepped back, a sad smile on his face. The door closed, sealing with a slight hiss. The king raised his hand in farewell as the airship's autopilot took over.

Kairi's eyes widened in panic and she let out a strangled, "No!" She jerked forward, slamming her hands against the controls in an attempt to stop the craft. As the ship kept rolling toward the bay doors, Kairi turned her attention back to the figure of her father, standing in the middle of the hangar as the refugee ships evacuated.

Sora stared at the city as they shot out above it. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The city was sprawled out over a hilltop. On one side, cliffs met the sea and a harbor was carved out of the rocks. He thought he caught a glimpse of stairs carved into the rocks, leading down to the water's edge, but before he could check, their airship had already passed it.

Soon, the palace was gone from sight, and there was nothing except water. In the distance, Sora caught sight of an island. It steadily grew larger as they hurdled toward it. More airships were taking off from the island to join the fleet in the sky—a fleet, Sora noticed, that was headed in a different direction.

Sora turned to ask Kairi about this, but the words died when he looked at her. "Kairi?" he ventured, tentative.

Her eyes were dry, but rimmed with red, and she let out one choked sob. She took a breath and wiped her eyes—even though there was nothing there to wipe away—and focused her gaze on the horizon. "I'm fine," was her reply. Her voice wavered a bit, but her jaw clenched and her hands tightened on the controls.

Sora looked back out the window—the sight of this new, unrecognizable Kairi too painful to watch. In front of them was a vast void—they had left land and sea behind. He ventured a glance behind him at the rapidly shrinking world. The city was faintly visible on its hill, with sea on one side and earth on the other. But that was where the world ended. It looked like someone had grabbed a hold of the city and ripped it away from a bigger piece, leaving the small world to hang in space, looking so alone.

Suddenly, the fading view of Radiant Garden vanished, completely obscured by darkness.

Sora let out a surprised yelp, instinctively jerking back. "What happened?"

"Heartless, although it usually takes longer. They must have their whole fleet out here, to overcome a cornerstone world so quickly." Kairi cursed and Sora gaped. "They found us. You're going to have to take that gun back there and keep them off of us. And make sure there's always a clear path ahead for me."

Sora nodded, his eyes wide and his heart pounding. He jumped out of his seat and raced back to the gun tower Kairi had indicated. Throwing himself into the seat, he hurriedly wiped his hands on his pants before grabbing the controls.

The controls were familiar enough that Sora could figure out how to use them with a quick glance and some experimentation—which was all the time he had before Kairi called out in a voice high and tight with beginnings of panic, "Incoming, on the left!"

Sora turned—slightly surprised when the entire tower swiveled with him—and searched the darkness in front of him for Heartless. A lone ship came barreling out of the void straight for them. The design was similar to the other refugee ships that he had seen in the hangar, but this one looked older. Sora hesitated.

"Kairi, are you sure—"

The other ship opened fire on them, the shots rocking the vessel and cutting Sora off midsentence.

"What are you doing up there?" Kairi yelled. "Unless I say otherwise, any ship that comes within range is Heartless!"

Sora nodded with wide-eyed chagrin, even though Kairi couldn't see him, and flexed his fingers around the controls. He didn't want to think about the possibility that the other ship might not be Heartless, so he clung to the fact that Kairi seemed to know what she was talking about.

There. The other ship was coming back in for another pass.

He followed the other ship, trying to keep it in his sights as it danced and weaved through space, moving in and out of range so quickly his head spun. At last the targeting device gave an affirmative beep and the Heartless ship lit up in green. Without giving himself much time to think, Sora slammed down on the trigger button and a pair of twin lasers—bright in the gloom of space—raced out toward the other ship. The small craft tried to turn, tried to avoid the lasers, but one clipped the side as they shot past.

Sora watched in speechless amazement as the metal on the ship started to disintegrate. He had expected a small explosion; instead, the ship seemed to be collapsing in on itself.

"Sora! I could use some help right about now!"

He swiveled around until he was once more facing the front of the ship. And his heart began beating in overtime, threatening to come right out of his chest.

Several dozen ships—all looking the same as the first one, although many of them were larger—were blocking their path.

"Well, here goes nothing," Sora muttered under his breath as he squeezed the trigger.

The stationary ships were much easier to hit, especially dead-on. They collapsed much like the first ship before dissolving into darkness. None of them really employed any evasive maneuvers, and Sora wondered why a blockade had been set up if they weren't going to do anything.

The answer to his silent question was answered when their ship was suddenly being pounded by fire from a wave of ships coming in from the right.

Sora whirled to face them and tried to avoid falling out of his chair as the walls rattled loudly around him, hoping that Cid had made their tiny little craft as durable as possible. Panic had numbed his vocal cords and was threatening to take over completely. He pushed it away, focusing instead on sending a steady stream of fire back at the Heartless.

Several of his shots went wide or missed completely as Kairi guided their ship through a series of ducks and weaves as they raced forward. He tried to compensate as best he could, but Kairi's movements were unpredictable at best—Sora was sure that to anyone watching, her flying could only be described as erratic.

However, they were taking fewer hits than before—the darker side of Sora added in that they were delivering fewer hit as well. Sora refused to dwell on that thought. It was almost all he could handle keeping the Heartless away on all sides—they had sprung out of the darkness without warning—and clearing a path for Kairi at the same time.

Time had ceased to exist, along with everything other than the Heartless and their ship. There was only this—this fragile balance between life and death, the edge of the knife between survival and oblivious. No room for thought or emotion, only hands on weapon controls and bright burst of light tearing through the darkness.

Sora shot down what seemed like the millionth Heartless, no longer noticing the way they vanished. He was on edge, his nerves keeping him alert, as he scanned the void for more Heartless, waiting for them to loom out of the shadows like phantoms.

Nothing.

Sora waited, body tense and heart thudding in his ears like a war drum until he heard Kairi let out a sigh, followed by, "We made it through, although one of our engines isn't operating at full capacity. And they managed to take out our secondary fuel tank."

And as quickly as it had begun, it was over. When Sora pried his hands free of the controls they were shaking. Heaving a stunned breath, he curled them into trembling fists and tried to pull himself together.

He slowly made his way back into the cockpit, trying to keep the trembling from spreading to his legs and only partially succeeding, and arrived in time to see Kairi run a hand through her hair, agitated. He plopped down in his seat, feeling weak and exhausted as the adrenaline seeped out of him. "What's that mean?"

Kairi looked at the instrument panel as she spoke, making adjustments. "It means we'll never make it to Twilight Town, even if I knew where it's at. I think we'll just make it to Ridorana—Ridorana is another refugee world, so we should be able to find someone who can fix our ship and point us in the right direction."

Sora nodded—after all, he had no choice but to agree—and leaned his head back. This was a strange new world he had been dropped in, one that he wasn't sure he liked all that much. Maybe… maybe it was all a dream and he would wake up, back in the orphanage with Riku and Kairi. Maybe he was asleep again … like he had been with Naminé.

Their ship rushed through the darkness, headed for the unknown. Sora leaned his head back again the seat, staring with wide eyes at the smooth ceiling of the ship and trying his hardest not to think and keep the encroaching fear and panic at bay. He reiterated his earlier pledge to hold off on his breakdown until they were safe.

Kairi didn't speak again until Ridorana loomed before them and their ship started vibrating so badly, Sora thought it was about to fall apart.

"Hold on, Sora. This is going to be a rough landing."

Sora grabbed the sides of his seat and vowed not to scream.


	4. Meetings

**Sorry about the delay getting this chapter up. Life and all. ****If you want to see what the apartment looks like, I'll be posting a link. I usually need to see a floor plan in order to get everything straight in my head, so I figure some of you might need to, too. :D**

* * *

"You nearly tore my ship apart!"

The man was angry, there was no doubt about that. His face was red and he was waving his arms around as if he couldn't decide whether to fix the single scratch on his ship or strangle Sora then and there.

Sora prayed it was the former. He glanced over at Kairi, hoping that she would be able to talk them out of this mess.

She sat next to their ship—or what was left of their ship, really—her eyes blank and unresponsive. She held a small pouch in her hands—red, with a leaf design on a blue background on the front, tassels on the bottom, a beaded drawstring at the top—that made Sora think of Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Kairi hadn't spoken since they landed; she just sat there, looking lost and more than little broken.

Looking at her, Sora could feel his heart breaking for her.

"—no respect for other people's property! How could you have possibly missed the fact that my ship was parked here?"

He turned his attention back to the owner of the airship, forcing himself to focus on the task of somehow placating him without Kairi's help. If he could just stave off the impending breakdown a little longer... "We were attacked by Heartless, and our ship wouldn't have made it any further. I'm sorry that we hit your ship, it's just that we thought we could slide in next to yours."

Some of the anger drained from the man's face as he frowned contemplatively, glancing over at the smaller refugee ship. His grey eyes were assessing as he took in the extensive damage. "You know," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "your ship isn't _completely_ beyond repair. I'd be willing to do some work on it for you... For a price."

Sora's stomach sank. "How much?" he asked, dreading the answer.

The man glanced at their ship once more, a calculating look on his face that was nerve-wracking. "Well, there's the cost of parts, the cost of labor, I might need some assistance with several things… Oh, and of course, the cost of repairs for my ship, as well. All in all, I'd say… around five thousand munny."

Sora sucked in a stunned breath. "Let… let me talk to Kairi for a moment." Without waiting for a response, he walked back to where Kairi was sitting.

She didn't move when he plopped down next to her and let out a sigh.

He didn't look at her, didn't want to see those lifeless eyes again. "He's going to charge us five thousand munny to fix the ship, Kairi. We need the ship to get to Twilight Town, but we don't have that kind of munny. Even if we did have it, we wouldn't have any left for a place to stay or food." He paused, letting out another sigh, only this one rattled and was closer to a sob than he would have liked. "I don't know what to do."

Something landed in his lap. Sora looked down. The pouch that Kairi had been holding earlier stared up at him, the leaf and bright beads bringing back memories of the last time he had woken up in a strange place.

He glanced over at Kairi, but she was still staring at the ground. Afraid to hope, he carefully opened the drawstring and nearly jumped up and screamed with elation. Inside, folded and tucked away neatly, was more munny than he could have hoped for. A quick estimate told him that they had more than enough to pay for the repairs and a place to stay.

Sora stood, wanting to tell Kairi that everything would be okay, that they would get through this and figure out what was going on. But his words failed him, and all he could say was, "Thank you, Kairi," even though it wasn't nearly enough to describe what he felt.

He walked back over to where the man was waiting, inspecting the scratch on his own ship. As Sora approached, the man straightened. "So, do we have ourselves a deal?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. I'm Sora," he added, realizing that he had never introduced himself.

"Balthier." The name came as a side note, a minor distraction as he looked around for something. After a long minute, he found a box of tools that had been stashed behind a stack of spare parts. "It should take me the better part of a week to get your ship working again. You can come back in another couple of days for a more accurate estimate, if you like. And I'll also have a final price for you either then or when it's ready to go."

"Okay, then. Thanks, Balthier." Sora slipped the munny pouch into his pocket and made his way back to Kairi. The sun had warmed the ground, and the heat soaked into Sora's feet, reminding him that he was still without shoes. He made a mental note to find some after finding a place to stay and getting Kairi settled. Her blankness was starting to unnerve him.

Sora grabbed Kairi's hand and hauled her to her feet. "Come on, Kairi. We're going to find a place to stay." As he led his best friend out of the shipyard into the city, he kept a steady stream of words flowing. Half the time, he didn't know what he was saying—sometimes he talked about when they were kids on Destiny Islands, other times he went on about some of the odd things he had seen while he was traveling the worlds—but talking kept the panic at bay.

As he turned a corner, spotting a marketplace that looked promising for getting information, a kid bumped into him. "Hey!" Sora sputtered out, surprised, as he tried to regain his balance without knocking Kairi over.

The boy turned—Sora got an impression of blue-grey eyes and blond hair that was longer in the front, framing his face—and cast a quick smile in Sora's direction. He was taller than Sora, and dressed in rather odd looking clothes—similar to the clothes Balthier had been wearing. "Sorry," the boy said, sounding slightly out of breath.

Before Sora could reply, the boy was gone.

Sora peered through the crowd, his curiosity urging him to go chasing after him. He glanced back at Kairi; she was his first priority, not chasing some kid through the streets of a strange world. Instead, he turned his attention back to the marketplace. A vendor near them was selling something that smelled like food and was manned by an older woman.

He led Kairi over to the vendor, realizing for the first time that he hadn't eaten since he woke up. His stomach chose that precise moment to make its neglect known, letting out a long—and loud—growl. Sora smiled apologetically at the woman, who smiled back.

"Twenty munny for a serving."

Sora nodded and slipped his free hand in his pocket, reaching for the pouch.

Nothing.

He dropped Kairi's hand to check his other pocket and a mixture of panic and despair washed over him. Looking around the ground, Sora mentally retraced everything that had happened since they landed. He had put the pouch in his pocket after they left Balthier, hadn't he?

The woman, noticing Sora's actions and panicked look, made a sympathetic sound. "Pick-pocketed? It happens more often than not these days."

Sora stared at her blankly, trying to reason out what she was telling him through the panic consuming him. _Pick-pocketed?_

The boy. When he bumped into Sora.

A feeling of helplessness rose up, and he looked over at Kairi—her empty eyes fixed on the wooden stall as her hands hung limply by her sides, making her look eerily like a doll. He had to do _something_, he couldn't expect Kairi to sleep on the streets.

An idea began to form and Sora decided to go through with it before his conscience talked him out of it. He turned back to the woman, smiling a little. "Can my friend sit here with you for a minute? I'll be right back, I promise."

The woman glanced over at Kairi, then back at Sora, a hint of suspicion flashing across her eyes before she nodded hesitantly. "Well, I suppose."

Relief swept over Sora. "Thank you so much," he said as he led Kairi over to the chair and gently pushed her down. "I'll be right back, Kairi. Don't worry."

He made his way deeper into the market, his concentration split between watching the people and dodging careless steps—after all, he was barefoot and everyone else was not. After several long minutes, he spotted someone who looked promising.

The man was standing in front of a vendor, looking over the items, with a sword strapped to his back. The sword wasn't nearly as big as Cloud's sword, but it was large and looked used, which probably warned off pick-pockets … so hopefully the man wasn't expecting one to be stupid enough to try.

Hopefully.

Sora took a deep breath, steeling himself, and wished that his heart would slow down—with how hard it was beating the man could probably hear him from ten feet away. He could do this—he had to, for Kairi. He shoved one hand in his pocket and strolled through the crowd, moving closer to the left side and trying his best to look nonchalant. He passed the man, reached out, nabbed the wallet that was sitting just inside the man's pocket, and hurriedly slipped it into his own pocket.

Bracing himself for the shouts of protest, Sora walked away, forcing himself to remain calm and go slow. As he drew further away, he realized that he had done it, no one was chasing him or shouting for him to stop. A feeling of triumph rose in him, followed immediately by guilt.

The man had been buying groceries. What if he was buying food for his wife and children? What if the munny Sora had taken was all the munny they had left? He was essentially signing their death warrant. Or worse, what if the man ran an orphanage? And the munny Sora had taken was supposed to feed fifty starving kids?

The scenarios raced around Sora's head, refusing to leave him alone. He pulled the wallet out of his pocket and stared at it. His hands were sweating, making the wallet slippery in his grasp. _What would I tell Kairi? What would she say?_

Deciding that facing Kairi's disappointment was worse than starving, Sora turned around and headed back to the vendor. _If he's still there, I'll give it back and apologize. If he's gone…_

He didn't have time to contemplate what he would do if the man had gone. Before he knew it, he was standing once more in front of the vendor. The man with the sword was still there, chatting with the attendant while selecting produce.

Taking a breath in a desperate—and unsuccessful—attempt to calm his nerves and his beating heart, Sora walked forward and stopped next to the man. "Um, excuse me. Sir," he added on belatedly, wanting to be as polite as possible.

The man turned, his eyes bright and a smile across his face. His clothing looked familiar, but Sora pushed the memory away and instead focused on the problem at hand.

"Can I help you with something?" His voice sounded as cheery as he looked and Sora desperately hoped this meant he wouldn't be dismembered.

Sora licked his lips nervously. "I—I stole your wallet!" The words came out in a rush, jumbled together—an apt reflection of his muddled thoughts. He could see confusion spread across the man's face and he held out the object in question, hoping that its presence would make his words clearer.

The man blinked, his gaze falling on his wallet. "You stole my wallet?" His tone hinted that he was still attempting to put all the pieces together.

Sora nodded, shame washing over him. _A thief. A common thief._ "I'm sorry! I wouldn't have done it, except me and Kairi don't have any munny and I don't know what to do or where to go…" He trailed off and wiped his eyes with the back of his free hand.

"You stole my wallet, and now you're returning it?" The man's tone was downright incredulous.

Sora managed another nod and tried to keep his tears locked away. His eyes prickled and he felt like just giving up. He was tired, confused, lost, worried. It would be so easy to just accept defeat. _Come on,_he silently berated himself. _Pull yourself together and explain!_

"We just landed here and Balthier's charging us to fix the damage the Heartless did to the ship and we were going to go look for a place to stay and then we got pick-pocketed and Kairi—" Here his breath hitched and he wiped furiously at his eyes, determined not to cry in front of a stranger. "—Kairi won't talk or anything and I don't know what's wrong or how to help her and now we're going to have to sleep on the streets because you have a wife and eight kids!"

"Okay, kid. Just take a couple of deep breaths."

Sora gulped in air and his watery vision started to clear. He could see the man's wide-eyed expression—shock, maybe?—but he reached out and patted Sora on the shoulder. Sora rubbed his eyes again and sniffed, hating the fact that he was so close to breaking down. The deep breaths held back the sobs, though, and Sora was grateful for that small blessing.

"I'll tell you what. It sounds like you and… Kairi have had a pretty rough time of it so far. Why don't you two stay with me for a while?"

Hope sparked inside Sora. "Really?"

The spark was fanned into a flame when the man nodded, smiling once more. "I'm Zack," he said, taking his wallet from Sora.

Sora smiled back in relief, the first real smile he'd been able to muster in what seemed like ages. "Sora."

Zack immediately took charge of the situation as he gathered several bags into his arms. "All right then, Sora. We'll go get Kairi and then head back to my place."

Sora led the way back to the vendor where he had left Kairi, an array of emotions—excitement, anxiety, hope, confusion—coursing through him and making his muscles tremble. Sora stopped in front of the old woman's stall; she looked relieved at first—he couldn't comprehend why—but her expression quickly changed to one of exaggerated annoyance when Zack stopped beside Sora.

"Your friend here ate three servings, Fair. That's sixty munny, and I expect someone to pay for it." Although she snapped at Zack, Sora caught sight of a ghost of a smile playing around her lips.

Zack smiled at her, bright and cheerful. "Ah, don't worry about it. But, unfortunately, my hands are full at the moment. I'll pay you back, though."

The lady let out a _humph_, but smiled at Sora as he tugged Kairi to her feet.

The trio walked away, Zack in the lead with Sora and Kairi close behind him, making their way through the crowded marketplace. They hadn't gotten very far when the woman called out, "I'm putting it on your bill, Fair!"

Zack let out a chuckle and half-turned, shifting his bags until one hand was free. He waved at her, his smile perpetually on his face.

Sora gaped up at this strange man, confusion about the exchange he had just witnessed combining with all the other emotions swirling around inside.

Zack turned back around, catching sight of Sora's expression as he did. "She may seem gruff and everything but don't let it fool you. She's as harmless as a kitten. She helped my roommate and me get back on our feet when we first landed here nine years ago. In fact, she owns the apartment that we rent."

Sora followed in silence, Kairi trailing along behind him with her hand resting lightly in his, as Zack led them through a maze of streets, stopping every now and then to exchange greetings with other people that they passed. Finally, the three stopped in front of a rather plain looking building. Sora stared up at the bleak exterior, unsure of what to think of this dismal structure.

Zack fished a key out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and ushered Sora and Kairi inside. He started talking as the door opened, but Sora wasn't paying attention. Instead, he studied the living room—small, but in a cozy way—as he stepped in.

The dining room was directly to his left and Sora caught a glimpse of the kitchen past that. A long hallway stretched out past the living room—probably to the bedrooms. The furnishings were simple and well-worn, but still looked nice.

"—not very friendly, though."

Sora glanced up at Zack, about to ask him to repeat that last thought, when a voice interrupted him.

"Zack? Is that you?" The voice filtered in from the kitchen, gradually growing louder as the speaker made his way toward the living room.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw Zack tense up. He opened his mouth, started to ask what was going on, but he was cut off before he got the words out.

"Did you remember to pick up the—"

The speaker paused and stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his sentence dying away into silence as he eyed Sora and Kairi.

Sora took in the spiky blond hair, the ice blue eyes, the familiar features, set in their usual wary scowl. Shock took hold of him and he blurted out, "Cloud?"

Cloud paused, blinked, then shifted his gaze to Zack. He fixed the dark-haired man with a fierce glower. "Who," he asked with iron in his voice, "are they and why are they in our house? And how does he know my name?"

Zack chuckled. The sound was laced with nervousness and Sora glanced at him in time to see him reach back and rub the back of his head.

"They needed a place to stay," he said by way of an explanation.

"So find them a room for rent." Cloud crossed his arms and glared daggers at Zack.

"They… Well, they don't have any munny."

"We're not a poor house, Zack."

"Oh, come on, _Cloud_! She's in shock and he doesn't even have _shoes_! They're _refugees_, Cloud. Their home is _gone_."

Cloud glanced at Kairi, then over to Sora. For a brief moment, his eyes softened and he sighed, resignation in the sound. "Fine. But they're your responsibility. And I'm not giving up my bed."

Zack grinned. "Great!" He walked further into the small apartment, gesturing for Sora to follow. He hefted the grocery bags a little higher. "I'm gonna put these groceries away—you can have a seat on the couch."

And with that, Zack was gone, leaving Sora standing in the living room with Kairi and Cloud, feeling as disoriented as ever. Feeling the need to do something useful, he led Kairi over to the coach and pushed her gently onto one end. After she was seated, he sank down next to her, aware of Cloud's eyes following his every move.

"How'd you meet Zack?"

The abruptness of the question startled Sora and he jumped in surprise. For a moment, all he could do was stare at the blond—he was so familiar and, at the same time, completely different—a kind of_wholeness _to him that had been missing before. Finally, he licked his lips and answered. "Uh… I, um… I tried to pickpocket him."

Cloud's expression didn't change, but Sora noticed his left eye twitch ever so slightly. "Zack?" he called out, never taking his eyes off Sora. There was something in Cloud's voice that Sora couldn't place.

"Yeah?"

Cloud gave Sora a look that was clearly a warning—warning him of what, Sora couldn't fathom—before stalking off into the kitchen.

Sora sat there, hands in his lap, listening to the voices filtering into the living room. He tried to block the words out, but the harder he tried, the more aware of the low voices he became.

"_Thieves_, Zack?"

"He gave it back, and he felt really guilty about it."

"That's not the point! The point is that he _stole_ your _wallet_."

"Well, you can't just kick him out."

"Oh, really."

"Cloud! They're refugees. And if we turn them out, they'll have to sleep on the streets."

A pause. Sora reached over and took Kairi's hand in his own, seeking some sort of reassurance.

"Besides, you've seen the girl. There's no way he'd last one day on the streets with her."

Cloud let out a long sigh, then spoke. Sora heard the low timbre of his voice, but his attention wasn't focused on the words. Instead, he stared at Kairi in shock.

She had pulled her hand away from his and was hunched over with her arms wrapped around herself. Tears streamed down Kairi's face and silent sobs wracked her body.

"Kairi?" Sora reached out toward her hesitantly, unsure what to do. He had never seen Kairi break down and cry before, and he could feel panic rushing back to the surface.

She ignored his inquiry and her arms tightened as she folded in on herself. She gulped in a mouthful of air and let it out in a mournful wail that chilled Sora's blood and sent shivers down his spine.

Sora's hands hovered over Kairi's shoulders as he hesitated, terrified and too close to breaking himself to be of much help. Tears welled up in his own eyes, making his vision watery. "K—Kairi?" All at once, the feelings of exhaustion, desperation, confusion, helplessness of the past couple of days washed over him, threatening to overwhelm him.

A tear slid down his cheek and splashed onto his arm. Before he knew it, he was sobbing, too, hating that his nose was running and he had to keep sniffling.

Then Zack and Cloud were there, the former wrapping Kairi in his arms and saying something—nothing—in a soft, soothing voice. The latter settled next to Sora—he threw his arms around the blond and buried his face in Cloud's shoulder, not caring that Cloud wanted to kick them out and was probably made of ice. He was _familiar, _a small piece of home, and that was all that mattered. The blond patted Sora on the back, his movements stiff and awkward, but Sora didn't notice—the important thing was that he didn't pull away.

It felt like hours passed before Sora's sobs ceased and his breathing regained its deep, smooth pattern. His eyes felt heavy and he knew that he should move, but he was too comfortable to work up the energy.

After a moment, his eyes drifted closed and he became aware of soft voices.

"…the girl in my bed."

"…told you… not giving up my bed."

"_Cloud._"

"…fine."

Sora vaguely felt the swaying motion as he was lifted up and carried off. Once again, he was placed in a bed and left to drift off into the sweet embrace of sleep.

* * *

_"Hello?" _A voice drifted up out of the darkness.

_Hello?_ Sora tossed the thought back out into the void, surprised at the presence of someone else in a place that was usually his private domain.

_"Who are you? Where am I?"_ The questions came as demands, faint whispers that faded in and out like a faulty radio.

_Roxas?_

But the other voice was gone, leaving Sora alone in the darkness.


	5. Lessons

**First off, I'd like to apologize for not updating in what feels like ages. I've run into... issues with a certain character a few chapters down the road, and put this story on a back burner. After getting a couple new reviews, though, I decided to go ahead and post this and attempt to beat said character into cooperating with me. We'll see how that goes.**

**While I'm on the subject of characters, I would like to go on the record and say that, due to the AU nature of this story, some of the characters will not be acting quite like themselves. Sometimes it's because they need to act a certain way because the plot calls for it. Sometimes it's because they have an AU history, which means that while their core personality is the same, there will be major differences. I would love to be able to delve into all of the secondary characters' pasts because I've constructed entire worlds for them. However, I doubt these will ever see the light of day in Perchance. Having said that, there are a multitude of characters in Perchance that I've never written before. If you notice a character that seems completely OOC, please let me know.**

**Anyway, on to the story.**

**

* * *

**

"I need to head out to the coliseum. The two of you can lie low here until Cloud and I get back."

Sora stood in the middle of the living room, watching as Zack strapped his sword onto his back. He was curious about the coliseum—was it the same one from his adventures, with Hercules and Phil?—but he refrained from asking any questions. Cloud had already left when Sora woke up that morning, and Zack looked like he was in a hurry as well.

Instead, Sora glanced around the living room, noting the small piles of stuff scattered throughout the room, and looked back to Zack. "Is there anything you want us to do around here?" He felt bad about imposing on them and wanted to make it up to them—to Cloud—any way he could.

Zack was rooting around in the closet; what he was looking for, Sora wasn't sure. "Just some simple stuff, if you're feeling up to it. Basically, Cloud just wants you to clean up after yourselves. I know Cloud may seem rough around the edges, but he's really a nice guy."

Zack turned back to Sora, his eyebrows rising in surprise when Sora nodded in agreement with Zack's comment. "How do you…?" He shook his head. "We can talk about all this later. Right now, I've gotta run. Fang'll kill me if I'm late again." He reached out, put a hand on the doorknob, turned back to Sora. "Oh, Cloud wanted me to tell you that if anything goes missing, he's holding you responsible."

And with that, Zack Fair was gone, leaving Sora alone in the living room. The sound of running water in the bathroom told him Kairi was awake.

His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in what seemed like ages. Sora wandered into the kitchen and proceeded to open the cupboards, taking stock of what was available and where things were. In one cupboard, he came across a box of cereal. He pulled the box out, set it on the counter, and resumed his search—this time looking specifically for bowls and spoons.

Sora eventually found the bowls, along with a container of milk sitting in the fridge. As he grouped all of his discoveries together on the counter, he could hear the bathroom door open and Kairi appeared in the kitchen a moment later.

He stared at Kairi, fighting the urge to laugh. He realized that he probably looked just as ridiculous as Kairi and a quick glance down told him he was right.

They were both attired in blue sweaters with high necks and elbow-length sleeves that swam on their frames. As small as Cloud was, he was still bigger than the two of them. Kairi was wearing Sora's pants and Sora was wearing a pair of Cloud's. Zack had promised to take them clothes shopping as soon as he got back from the coliseum.

Sora smiled at Kairi, hesitant but encouraged when she smiled back. He wasn't sure what was going on, why everything seemed familiar and different, but he took comfort in the fact that Kairi was with him.

Her eyes dropped to the counter and she studied the items he had laid out. "What's all this for?" She looked back up at Sora, gesturing to the objects as she spoke.

Sora stared at her, unsure as to whether she was joking or not. "I'm making cereal," he ventured cautiously.

"Cereal?" Kairi's expression was one of bewilderment.

He let out a short laugh, fell silent when Kairi didn't give him a grin and proclaim, "Just kidding!" Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and glared ever so slightly at him.

Sora swallowed, unaccustomed to this side of Kairi. "Breakfast. Grab the bowls?"

Kairi picked up the two bowls, eyeing Sora every now and then as if she were checking to make sure he wasn't laughing at her. She wordlessly followed him over to the table and set the bowls next to the cereal box and milk carton he had carried over.

He padded softly back into the kitchen and began opening drawers, one at a time. After a few odd discoveries—who kept an entire drawer of daggers in the kitchen?—he found the silverware and headed back to the table with two mismatched spoons.

Kairi had settled into one of the chairs and was sitting with her hands folded in front of her on the table.

Sora smiled, held up his find, and proclaimed, "I found the spoons." He slid one over to Kairi, grabbed a bowl, and poured himself some cereal. He had filled the bowl with milk and was already several bites in when he realized that Kairi was still staring at him. He finished chewing, swallowed, and stared back at her, unsure of what was going on.

Instead of speaking, Kairi glanced down at her empty bowl and then fixed Sora with a pointed look.

He glanced down, checking to make sure he had remembered everything. He had. Eyes back up to Kairi, confused. "What?"

Kairi blushed then, her cheeks painted a bright red. She looked away and her words came out in a low mutter. "I don't know how."

Sora froze, blinked. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what she could possibly mean. "You don't know how to what?" He looked back down at her empty bowl and the answer to his question hit him like a bolt of lightning. "You don't know how to fix _cereal_?"

The red that was spread out over her cheeks grew several shades darker and her jaw tensed.

_Uh-oh._

Sora knew the signs, even if he had only seen them occasionally—the most spectacular by far had been when Tidus stuck a wad of gum in Kairi's hair when they were fourteen. The housemother had tried to salvage what she could, but Kairi had walked away from that disaster with insanely short hair. Tidus had walked away with a black eye, a fractured arm, and seriously wounded pride.

Kairi was mad.

He was about to backpedal and try to fix whatever it was that he did or said, but she beat him to it.

"Look," Kairi said, her voice deceptively calm and her eyes boring into his, "we can do this one of two ways. One: you can make fun of me because I've never had to do this before." Her fist clenched on the table and Sora had visions of broken bones and dislocated joints. At this point, the second option, still unknown, was preferable to the first.

"Or," she continued in that same even voice, "two: you can show me how, without the laughter. Got it?"

Sora nodded, mute. This was definitely a side of Kairi that he had only seen rarely when they were growing up. Yes, she had always been a bit of a tomboy, preferring to play with him and Riku instead of with the other girls, but it had always been tempered by her girly side.

Swallowing, he reached out and pushed the cereal box closer to Kairi. "First, you're going to pour cereal into your bowl until it's about half full."

Some of the fire left Kairi's eyes as she turned her gaze to the cereal box in front of her. Sora saw the change and let out a breath he wasn't aware that he had been holding.

Kairi lifted up the box and tipped it, jumping slightly as the cereal came tumbling out and landed in her bowl. She pulled the box up, stopping the flow, and glanced at Sora.

"Yeah, that's good," he declared with a nod. "Now, you're going to pour some milk over that, until the top of the cereal's covered. Then, you just… eat." He finished with a vague wave of his hand, unsure how to expound on the techniques of eating cereal.

Luckily, Kairi didn't ask him to. She poured the milk over her cereal, relaxing slightly when Sora didn't utter a sound—even when some of the milk splashed onto the table.

The rest of their meal passed in relative quiet. Sora spent the time contemplating this strange new world he had awoken to, and if Yen Sid could help him get back to Destiny Islands. At one point, he glanced over at the silent girl seated next to him and wondered what had happened to the Kairi that had hugged him so tight in The World That Never Was.

Kairi was Kairi, though, and he loved her no matter what. But he desperately missed the Kairi he had grown up with on Destiny Islands.

After they had finished with breakfast—Sora had eaten three bowls of cereal and felt guilty about emptying the box—he stacked the bowls and spoons and carried them to the kitchen. Setting the dishes in the sink, he turned back to Kairi. "Cloud wants us to clean up a bit. I can make the beds and clean up the bedrooms, and you can wash the dishes."

Kairi looked around the kitchen, contemplative, before nodding. "All right."

Sora studied Kairi for a minute and, not sensing any uncertainty in her demeanor, nodded and headed back to the bedrooms. "If you need any help," he added from the hallway, "just holler."

* * *

Sora stepped back and surveyed the room with a critical eye. The bed was made—he had _finally_ managed to locate the clean sheets—and the entire room had been dusted. He had been sure to put things back exactly how he had found them or close enough, he hoped. However, since it was Zack's room, Sora wasn't overly worried about threats of dismemberment.

He glanced over his shoulder at the room across the hall. He had already done some light cleaning in Cloud's room, but he was hesitant to move—or even touch—any of Cloud's things.

For some unfathomable reason that was far beyond Sora's comprehension, the scrawny blond intimidated him.

Sora let out a frustrated sigh and ventured back across the hall into Cloud's room. Cloud was harmless. He wouldn't hurt a fly—as long as it was a friendly fly, of course.

His mind flashed back to the incident with Kairi at breakfast. Not only had everyone forgotten him—_again_—but they were all acting strangely, too.

Curious about the stoic blond, Sora squashed down his reservations and picked up a picture frame from Cloud's nightstand. Two pictures stared up at him, the faces familiar but the places foreign.

The first was a picture of Cloud and Tifa, but they looked young—younger than Sora. They were standing in front of a building; the sign read _Seventh Heaven_. Tifa was smiling, Cloud was not. The blond was wearing a uniform of some sort—Sora could make out part of an insignia. Shinra something something Company.

The second picture was of Zack and Cloud. Cloud was older in this one, but not by much. Zack had his arm slung around Cloud's shoulders and his sword resting on his own. A grin was spread across his face. Cloud, on the other hand, looked mildly annoyed but the hint of a smile lurked around the edges of his mouth. Cloud's sword was strapped to his back, but it wasn't the big sword Sora remembered. In the background, Sora could see what looked like an arena.

Sora focused on the background, trying to figure out if it could be the coliseum Zack had mentioned.

"Sora!"

He jerked in surprise, the picture frame tumbling out of his hands as he turned toward the door. His heart, already beating faster than normal, pounded into overdrive when he saw the Heartless rising out of the floor. The shadow was still wispy, in the midst of being formed. Once the darkness concentrated in the form, it would be harder to kill. Now was the time to strike.

His fingers flexed and his muscles tightened in preparation for the weight of the Keyblade. The image began to form in his mind, this time the image of the weapon he had summoned when he woke up in Radiant Garden.

"Don't!"

Sora glanced over; Kairi stood in the doorway, her chest heaving as she gulped in air and soapy water dripping from her hands. Several suds rested in her hair.

"Don't summon the Keyblade," she gasped.

He didn't understand, but he trusted Kairi. The image in his mind faded away.

Oathkeeper appeared in Kairi's hand without the usual flash of light. She held the weapon comfortably, as if she had been wielding it her whole life, and swung without hesitation.

The Heartless just seemed to dissipate when the Keyblade struck it, the darkness separating and drifting away.

Kairi turned to Sora—he caught a glimpse of the handle and the mysterious lack of a keychain. Then she relaxed and Oathkeeper was gone. Kairi fixed him with a stare that was a strange blend of inquisitive and melancholic. "My father didn't tell you much, did he?"

Sora remembered the twice interrupted meeting, the hasty journey down to the hangar, the words spoken in urgency that he just couldn't seem to remember. He shook his head, prompting Kairi to let out a long sigh.

She made her way over to Sora, sunk to the ground with her back against Cloud's bed. "I can't tell you everything, because there's a lot I don't know, either. Yen Sid should be able to answer all our questions, but for now, I can catch you up on the basics of wieldZing a Keyblade, at least."

Sora settled himself on the floor next to her, a little overwhelmed by how surreal it all seemed. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that _Kairi_ would be schooling _him_ on using a Keyblade.

"Rule number one: _Never_ summon your Keyblade with the keychain attached. When you picture the Keyblade in your mind, you have to be sure to put an emphasis on it not having a keychain."

"Why?"

"Contrary to popular belief, the Keyblade isn't forged from light." Oathkeeper appeared in her hand again. "It's just an ordinary sword, forged from metal. But the keychains _are_ forged from light. Traditionally, each wielder forges his—or her—own."

"But doesn't the light destroy the darkness?"

"Yes, and no. When you summon a Keyblade with a keychain attached, it arrives in a burst of light. The light initially shatters the darkness, but it also draws the darkness to smother the light."

They were silent for a long minute, both staring at Oathkeeper. Kairi broke the silence when she turned to him and said, "You should try it."

"What?" He stared at her, hoping that she didn't mean what he thought she meant.

"Summon your Keyblade without the keychain."

He had never summoned a Keyblade without a keychain before and wasn't even sure that he could. And if he didn't… "But, if it doesn't work—"

"Don't think about that. Just focus."

Sora closed his eyes and blocked out images of Heartless swarming Ridorana. Instead, he focused on the strange Keyblade he had summoned in Radiant Garden, recreating the weapon in his mind to the best of his recollection.

The Keyblade formed in his hand, its appearance sudden and flawless. Silver and gold entwined to form the shaft, and the teeth reminded him of feathers. Blue gems were scattered down the shaft, catching the low light in the room and reflecting it back in shades of blue. He had never seen its equal.

"Sometimes," Kairi said, her voice softer now and almost reverent, "knowing the name of your Keyblade can make summoning it easier." She reached out and touched the finely crafted metal. "This is Redemption."

Sora stared at the Keyblade in his hand, finding the absence of the keychain strange and he wasn't sure if he would ever get used to it. "So, the keychain had no effect on the appearance of the Keyblade?" He was curious, eager to find out to what extent this world differed from his own—so far, he was finding, quite a bit.

"The two have no physical connection to each other. The Keyblade that chooses you says a lot about who you are—your strengths and weaknesses. But the keychain that you craft says a lot about what you hold dear."

He was quiet a moment, contemplating Kairi's words and trying to absorb everything. His curiosity had been piqued when she spoke of the keychains however, and he didn't stay silent for long. He glanced at her, questioned, "What's your keychain?"

She smiled, looking—for a brief instant—so much like the Kairi who welcomed him home, _his_ Kairi. Sora's breath caught in his throat and he had to fight down the sudden urge to wrap Kairi in his arms and never let go. Instead, he averted his gaze.

"I'll show it to you someday."

He nodded, mute, and the two fell into a comfortable silence.

After a long moment, Sora was pulled out of his thoughts by an out-of-place, yet familiar, sound. He listened for a moment, unsure of what he was hearing. Once comprehension took hold, he spun to face Kairi, his eyes wide.

Kairi stared back at him, her brow furrowed in obvious confusion. "Sora, what's—"

"Did you turn off the water in the kitchen?"

For a second, neither of them moved. Then Kairi's eyes went wide. She jumped to her feet with an exclamation of shock, Oathkeeper disappearing from her hands, and she dashed from the room.

Sora was ready to push himself up and go help Kairi when Cloud's nightstand caught his attention. He let out a groan. _Cloud's pictures! I'd better get them now before I forget and he comes home._

Instead of clambering to his feet, Sora turned and peered under the bed. As his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness before him, he glanced around for the picture frame.

There, in the corner! The glass reflected some of the light from the room, drawing Sora's eyes toward it. He reached out, wrapped his hand around it, paused when his fingertips brushed something else.

He knew that the right thing to do would be to just leave it alone. He should get the frame, put it back, and go help Kairi. But the object—whatever it was—was calling to him in a way he couldn't explain.

He could make out a shape in the darkness and he sucked in a breath in surprise. It was a sword—_Cloud's _sword.

Sora's mind jumped back to meeting Cloud at the coliseum, the brooding blond with his bandage-wrapped sword. He had always wondered about the bandages, but Cloud's demeanor never had encouraged pointless questions.

His hand hovered over the sword as Sora waged a fierce inner battle. He was spared from making a decision, though, when Kairi's voice broke though Sora's trance.

"Sora? I have a… situation out here!"

Sora scooted out from under Cloud's bed, the picture frame firmly grasped in his hand and questions about Cloud's sword—why would he keep it under the bed?—filed away for later. He hastily shoved the frame onto the nightstand and rushed out of the room—his heart hammering in his chest and his imagination running rampant with scenarios for what could possibly be wrong.

Heartless, Maleficent, Organization XIII, Riku... The list was endless, but Sora desperately wished it would be Riku. He missed his best friend—perhaps _he_ knew what was going on.

The scene that greeted Sora as stopped just outside the kitchen was definitely _not_ one that he had expected.

Kairi was crouched on the counter, the hem of her pants slightly damp and water dripping from her bare feet. She grasped at the cabinets behind her and her toes wrapped around the edge of the counter as she tried to keep her balance in her precarious situation.

The water was no longer running in the sink, but the floor tiles were submerged by a good half inch. Soap suds covered everything—the window valance, the top of the fridge, the drawers Kairi had probably opened in her search for the silverware.

Sora stepped over several bags that lined the doorway and he was extremely grateful that Kairi had managed to stop the flow of water into the living room. At least they wouldn't have to explain why the carpet was wet.

He paused for a minute, ignoring the water that swished around his feet and began to soak up into his pant legs, and took in the horrendous disaster that was the kitchen—acutely aware of Kairi's wide eyes fixed on him. Finally, an idea began to form.

"Can you open the window, Kairi? I'm going to work on getting the water out and you can clean up the soap suds, okay?"

Kairi nodded, stood, and gingerly crept along the counter to the window above the sink. She slid the window open and made her way back to the other end of the counter. Sora was vaguely aware of her grabbing a towel to start on the suds, but his focus was on the words running through his head.

Once he was sure he remembered all the words, Sora reached out his hand, palm facing the water, and spoke the Old Words Merlin had taught him in Traverse Town. He uttered them slowly and softly, taking his time and ensuring the element would still bend to his will.

"Sora, I'm not sure that's a good idea…"

He blocked out Kairi's voice, concentrating instead on the Old Words as they fell smoothly from his lips. Each time he repeated the phrase, his voice rose a bit and the element gladly followed suit.

Fire magic had always been the hardest to tame, Merlin had told him. It took the right amount of controlling and cajoling to get the free-spirited element to listen. It had taken Sora time to learn, but the reward was the element's willingness to obey.

Steam rose from the wet floor and was carried out the window by the soft breeze. Sora allowed himself a smile, all the while speaking the Old Words. The element was enthusiastic, eager to spring to life, but the words bound it to Sora's will.

A few minutes more and the floor would be perfectly dry.

"I really think you need to stop, Sora."

He glanced up at Kairi, surprised at the nervousness in her voice. For a single heartbeat, his focus shifted to her and he stumbled over one of the Old Words.

Quicker than he could blink, the element broke through his verbal restraints and burst into life. The tongues of fire leapt upward, following the rest of heat that was so quickly escaping. Sora could only stare as the flames took hold of the valance above the window and eagerly attacked the fabric.

Kairi was frozen, too—but only for a second. She jumped down from the counter, sprinted to the sink, and pulled out the hose. Turning on the water, she aimed the hose at the flames and squeezed.

The fire sputtered and died as quickly as it had burst into existence.

Kairi turned to face Sora, her chest heaving and her face pale. She pointed an accusing finger at him. "No more magic."

He gaped at her. "What? I had everything under control until—"

"You call _that_ under control?" She gestured behind her.

"—_until_ you distracted me!"

"Oh, please! You only know how to use magic because my—"

"What. Happened."

Sora cringed at the voice and slowly turned toward the doorway. He was suddenly aware that he was standing on a still very damp floor with soap suds surrounding him and a half-burned valance behind him.

"Heh… Cloud! You're back sooner than we expected." He tried to keep his voice upbeat and positive, but Cloud's eyes narrowed and Sora knew they were in trouble.

* * *

"…Kairi put out the fire, and that's when Cloud came in." Sora wished he could just sink into the couch and disappear. He had kept his eyes on the floor the entire time—he could feel Cloud's stare on him and didn't want to meet his gaze.

Kairi, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected by this turn of events. She sat next to Sora, her back straight and her head held high, meeting Cloud's relentless stare head on with one of her own. She had stayed silent for most of Sora's explanation, except for when she inserted something Sora had left out.

Cloud made a noncommittal sound and Sora worked up the courage to look at him. His arms were crossed and he leaned against the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Sora said, feeling shame rise up. Cloud and Zack had let them stay in their house and were taking care of them more than he liked to admit. "It's my fault."

"No, it's not."

Sora looked over at Kairi. She fixed him with her gaze, and he couldn't fathom why she would say it wasn't his fault. It certainly wasn't _her_ fault.

"But, I should have listened to you."

Kairi nodded and gave him a small smile. "Yes, you should have. But it was an accident, Sora. You can't take the blame for everything that goes wrong."

Sora stared at her, unsure of what to say.

"I agree that it was an accident, but that still doesn't solve the problem." Cloud finally spoke, drawing Sora's attention back to the matter at hand.

"Well," Zack spoke up this time, his eyes still bright and cheerful, "the floor's almost dry and the soap suds just need to be wiped up. And you've been complaining that the curtain thing had been getting _dingy_." He smirked at Cloud, who glared fiercely at him before turning back to Sora and Kairi.

Sora studied Cloud, positive that Zack had been making fun of him, but unsure how.

"Just one Heartless?"

Sora glanced back at Zack and nodded. "Yeah. Just the one."

Zack nodded, looking thoughtful. "Probably just a scout, then. They show up every now and again. Every once in a while, a group of them'll pop in, but it's not a big deal."

Sora shot a nervous look at Cloud before the words tumbled out of his mouth. "Why do you keep your sword under your bed?"

Cloud froze and his silence was ten times worse than it had been before. "Did you touch it?" he demanded after a moment.

Sora frowned. "Well, kind of." When Cloud's look darkened, Sora hurried to explain. "I accidentally brushed it, but that was it."

"The hilt, or the blade?"

"The blade?" Sora answered hesitantly, unsure why Cloud was firing all these questions at him. It was just a sword, after all. Wasn't it?

Cloud visibly relaxed. "Good." The single word came out almost as a sigh, before he drilled Sora with another glare. "Don't ever touch it again, got it?"

Sora nodded, confused. He looked up at Zack and saw the same confusion—mixed with mild annoyance and resignation—written across his face. Zack saw him looking and shook his head with a small smile, but it only lasted a second before his features shifted into an expression of seriousness more intense than Sora had ever seen from him before. It was almost as if the warrior was trying to peel back the layers of his skin so he could see straight to his soul. "So, how do you know Cloud?"

Three sets of eyes were suddenly all focused on him. Kairi looked worried, but Zack and Cloud just seem curious.

"We, um, met at the coliseum," he said, wondering if he should go into more detail.

"After we landed, Sora stopped by the coliseum to see if he could get a job," Kairi supplied smoothly.

Sora gaped at her. Kairi had never been much of a liar; now, the story flowed from her lips as easily as the truth.

Zack shot Cloud an unreadable look but shrugged nonetheless. "So you saw Cloud there and then ran into me, and couldn't believe we're roommates?"

Sora nodded, grateful for the out Zack had supplied for them. "Y—yeah," he managed to choke out.

It was quiet for a moment as the four tried to figure out where to go from there.

Zack spoke first. "We should take you out to get some better clothes tomorrow. There's a small shop down the street; their selection isn't always the best, but they're relatively cheap."

Cloud glanced at Sora—more specifically, his feet. "They can borrow some of my shoes, then," he offered with a sigh. "I'm going back to the coliseum."

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the kitchen and the rest of the house, upon Sora's insistence. Kairi had just pulled down the last of the curtains to be washed when Sora commented, "I _could_ wash those right now, if you want…"

Her voice was gentle, joking. "No more magic."

He glanced over at her and the two shared a small smile.

* * *

The darkness was restless, he was restless. They were searching, but not finding. He had to find what he was looking for. He paced across the large room, the soft _click_ of his heels echoing in the empty air.

His apprentice entered the room, his footsteps louder, less even. But then, he wasn't as in touch with the darkness as he could be—as he _should_ be.

"Have you found him yet?" he hissed.

His apprentice flinched. "No."

His fury grew and he nearly lashed out. But he held his temper—it had taken him too long to find his latest apprentice and he had no intention of breaking in a new one so soon. Besides, this one was… special. "_Find_ him. Now."

His apprentice nodded, left. He was once more alone in the darkness. He smiled, a twisted, cruel expression, and let his plan continue to stew in his mind.

Soon, everything would begin.


	6. Outing

**Wow. Just wow. You all have my sincere apologies or not updating this in longer than I care to admit.**

* * *

"We'll pay you back."

Zack shook his head. "Cloud may make it sound like we're one step away from the poorhouse, but we're doing okay. Consider it a gift."

Sora sensed Zack wasn't going to change his mind, no matter what arguments he threw at him, so he said nothing. Instead, he glanced over at Kairi, still not used to seeing her in her new outfit.

She had taken longer looking for her clothes, but her perseverance had paid off. She was wearing a maroon blouse, the color deep and dark. The neck was high and lined with lace, the sleeves cuffed around her elbows, and buttons running down the length of the front. Her skirt was black with flowers the same deep maroon and was wrapped around her waist, secured with a bow. Underneath, she had a pair of black shorts that ended just above her knees but remained invisible to the casual observer.

Sora had asked about the shorts—Kairi had rolled her eyes, placed one hand on her hip, and explained, "Fighting in a skirt just isn't practical, Sora."

Of course, that had led to an argument with Sora insisting that she wasn't going to be fighting anything—or anyone—and Kairi insisting that oh yes, she would, and she would start with him if necessary.

Zack had stepped in at that point, suggesting that they finish their… _conversation_ later. The look the shop owner was giving them suggested that he heartily agreed.

Sora shifted, tugging at the collar of his new sweater. On Destiny Islands, no one had even heard of a turtleneck before—including him. He found the fabric around his neck oddly oppressive, but his aversion to extended shopping trips had made him all too eager to snatch up the first thing that fit.

He glanced down at himself critically. Kairi had insisted that he looked fine, but red was so _not_ his color. It made him look like a tomato.

He was thankful that he had been able to find a pair of pants that were black, though. For a while there, the only option appeared to be green and he absolutely refused to walk around dressed like a Christmas tree. Riku would have never let him live it down.

"What's that?"

Kairi's voice pulled Sora back to the present and he followed her gaze to the structure looming over them.

"That," Zack announced, pride evident in his voice, "is none other than the Ridorana Coliseum."

Sora gaped at the towering building. Beautifully crafted arches and columns decorated the exterior, telling a silent story of the detail and workmanship that had been poured into its creation. People milled around, chatting and shopping at the small stalls, while a few disappeared into the coliseum.

"Come on, I'll give you guys a tour." Zack led the two through the crowd, checking every so often to make sure that they hadn't been swept away by the tide of people pressing in on all sides. The three managed to make their way to one of the doors; a sign posted on it warned that access was restricted to the fighters only.

"Are you sure it's okay for us to go in?" Kairi questioned.

Zack looked back at her, then to the sign. "Oh, yeah, it's fine. As long as you're with me, no one'll give you any problems."

Kairi's expression clearly voiced her doubt, but she followed the fighter through the door anyway.

Sora took everything in with wide eyes. Just through the doors was a set of stairs leading downward. As they descended, Zack started talking.

"There's a good number of tunnels down here, so stick close. This is where the fighters wait until their turn in the tournament. We're actually underground right now—these tunnels were dug out and the coliseum floor was raised up. Watch your head, that stone's loose."

Sora ducked instinctively, glancing up at the cracked and probably ancient stones overhead. Nothing happened, and Kairi hid her smile behind her hand while Zack chuckled at him. He decided to ignore them both.

Zack continued to lead them through the stone passageways, answering their questions and introducing them to some of the fighters they came across.

"Is there a tournament coming up?" Sora questioned after they had been introduced to yet another group of fighters.

"What? Oh, no. The tournaments aren't held until the weekend, so these guys are just here to practice. Fang—she runs this place—requires us to put in about fifteen hours a week before we can com—"

"Fair!"

Zack grimaced and muttered, "Speak of the devil." He turned, a smile plastered on his face. "Fang!"

The woman stalking down the corridor looked irritated. Her black hair fanned out behind her and fell around her shoulders when she came to a halt in front of Zack. Even though she was several inches shorter than him, she glared up at him with an intensity in her green eyes that made Zack rub the back of his head in chagrin. Sora wanted to hide. She looked _scary. _

"You," she snapped, poking his chest with one finger, causing the bangles adorning her arm to rattle, "are behind with your training."

Sora studied this odd woman as she argued with Zack. Her outfit—a black undergarment and blue shorts covered with a lightweight blue sari—and open-toed boots suggested that she was originally from a warmer climate. A tattoo covered her left upper arm, the design as foreign to Sora as the woman's clothing.

"Sora!" Kairi hissed his name as she jabbed him with a well-placed elbow to the ribs.

"What was that for?" he muttered, shooting the redhead a dirty look as he rubbed his aching ribs.

Kairi fixed him with an icy look. "It's not polite to stare."

Sora opened his mouth, started to speak, when—

"Fine, fine!" Zack threw up his hands in exaggerated exasperation. "I'll head up to the floor right now! Can my friends at least go up with me? I _promise_ they won't break anything."

For the first time since her arrival, Fang's gaze shifted to Sora and Kairi. "You two fight?"

Kairi nodded. "I was trained in sword fighting since I was old enough to walk."

Fang nodded, her face blank and unreadable. "Fine. But, I'm warning you, Fair. Any damages are coming out of your winnings." She turned and stalked off, most likely to terrorize some other fighter, Sora thought. That was _not_ a woman he wanted to meet in a dark alley.

Zack let out a chuckle. "I think Fang likes you guys. Of course, it helps that Kairi's a fighter, too. Fang's been wanting to get more women involved in the tournaments."

Sora stared at Zack, incredulous. "_That_ was her _liking_ someone?"

"Don't worry about it, kid. She's a refugee, too, with a sister to take care of, to boot. She acts tough to keep her job and her reputation." He paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Or that might just be how she is anyway. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. Anyway, we'd better get up to the floor before she comes back."

Sora couldn't agree more.

* * *

Sora stood facing Kairi, Redemption hanging loosely from his hand. He really saw no good way out of this, especially since Kairi had insisted that they were going to spar.

Kairi eyed him, her muscles tense and her feet planted a shoulder's width apart. She held Oathkeeper in front of her in a defensive position. She had disposed of her skirt and Sora had to admit that she might be able to move a little easier in the shorts.

He could see the fire in her eyes, the determination in her stance, and knew that she wouldn't give him a moment of peace until they sparred. So, with an internal sigh, Sora forced himself into motion. He circled Kairi, Redemption still hanging at his side.

She stood motionless, waiting.

He felt hesitant to attack Kairi—she was, after all, Kairi—but he also knew that she wouldn't allow him to back down. Unable to form a better idea, Sora lunged at her. His attack was half-hearted and he was prepared to stop his swing at any moment.

As his Keyblade sliced through the air, Kairi twisted and brought Oathkeeper up to meet Redemption in the air with a clash. Before Sora could pull back, she pushed her Keyblade against his and used the force to jump backward.

Within seconds, she was once again out of range.

Sora paused and stared at Kairi, his eyes wide in disbelief. Kairi had never shown an interest in fighting before. When they were younger, she would make bracelets and charms on the shore while Riku and Sora fought with their wooden swords. The only time Sora could remember seeing Kairi with a sword was in The World That Never Was.

He moved back toward Kairi, his steps slow and cautious. He wasn't sure what to expect from the redhead, but he also didn't want to hurt her.

Kairi watched him advance, looking as calm as ever.

Sora made another wary lunge toward Kairi.

Her eyes narrowed and, instead of blocking again, she dodged his swing. In a heartbeat, Kairi was on Sora's left and his Keyblade was heading to his right. Oathkeeper flashed, pain exploded in his side, and Kairi was once again a safe distance away.

Sora tentatively touched his side and was grateful to find he wasn't bleeding. He would have a horrible bruise later, though.

"Don't," Kairi bit off, her eyes narrowed in annoyance, "go easy on me just because I'm a girl."

Adjusting his grip on his Keyblade, Sora remained motionless for a moment as he waited for the pain in his side to dull. He kept an eye on Kairi, though—she moved much faster than he could have imagined.

She, however, remained several feet away.

He moved his hand from his side to join the other on the grip and, without allowing himself to dwell on the fact that this was _Kairi_, he attacked.

He chased her around the coliseum floor, the redhead always one step ahead of him. She didn't hit him again—instead, she seemed to be focused on defensive maneuvers. Every time Sora swung, she would deflect his blow and leap away.

Sora felt irritation rising up within him. How was he supposed to fight her if he couldn't catch her? Without thinking, he threw his Keyblade at Kairi. The weapon sliced through the air, the sun's rays reflecting off the metal.

Kairi parried, barely. She lost her balance for a moment, stepped back to steady herself.

He saw the opening and took it.

While she was distracted, Sora ran a string of Old Words through his head and muttered them under his breath. Ice shot out from his out-stretched hand and sped across the distance to the redhead.

Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the ice and she hurriedly brought her Keyblade up in front of her. She managed to block the brunt of the attack, but the force of the sudden blizzard had caught her side and sent her tumbling back across the sand.

Sora stood motionless for a moment, shocked at his actions. Kairi, however, picked herself up from the ground and smirked. Oathkeeper appeared in her hands and before Sora could blink, she was rushing him, Keyblade held in front of her.

He managed to parry Kairi's blow—barely. She leapt out of range before Sora managed to counterattack.

They spent the next ten minutes locked in that pattern. Sora would close in on Kairi—usually after knocking her off balance somehow. Kairi would block his attack and slip out of his reach, forcing him to chase her.

Sora finally stopped, his chest heaving and his breath coming out in heavy pants. He eyed Kairi—she stood several feet away, leaning on Oathkeeper with her hair stuck to the side of her face. She was breathing hard, but not hard enough to appear winded.

Kairi reached up, brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

_Kairi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, oblivious to the fact that the gesture was useless—in a few minutes, the hair would come loose again. She stared down at the wooden sword in her hand, then up at the two boys. "Why do I need to learn how to fight?"_

_ Riku sighed, crossed his arms, explained. "You might need it someday, Kairi."_

_ Kairi swung the sword, experimenting. She grimaced, then looked up at Riku and Sora. "Why do I need to learn how to fight? You two will always be here to protect me. Right?"_

_ Riku, unrelenting, opened his mouth—probably to insist and tell her she was just being lazy._

_ Sora jumped in. "Yeah, that's right! We'll always protect you, Kairi."_

_ She smiled at him and the pure joy that flooded him in that instant was worth the death glare Riku was directing his way._

"Sora?"

Sora was suddenly aware of the fact that he wasn't breathing. He exhaled—all the air came out in a rush.

Zack and Kairi were standing around him, both looking slightly concerned.

He stared up at Zack, attempting to chase away the momentary confusion that plagued him. His eyes drifted toward the redhead and, for a brief instant, he saw Kairi—bold, confident, a warrior—and Kairi—determined, cheerful, but needing protection. The two images seemed to blur together.

He blinked, confused and unsure of what he was seeing.

When his vision cleared only the warrior remained.

"—obviously not ready for this yet. Come on, you can take a break in the stands." Zack grasped Sora's arm and steered him toward the nearest seats.

Sora was pushed down and given a look that warned him to stay there. He settled into the seat, feeling as though he could curl up on the beach and sleep for hours. His eyes drifted closed, but his plans were disturbed when someone spoke.

"You know, the two of you aren't that bad."

Sora opened his eyes. Fang was looking between him and Kairi, an assessing look in her gaze. "If you want, I can register you for the preliminary rounds. Of course, you'll have to build up your strength if you want to stand a chance at winning."

Zack shook his head. "I brought these kids here to _practice_, Fang, not to sign them up for the tournament. I really don't think—"

"What happens if we do win?" Sora cut in, feeling hope rise up inside of him.

"Well, you'll be recognized as the preliminary champions and you'll get a sizable percentage of the winnings."

Sora traded a look with Kairi. They did desperately need munny—they couldn't expect Zack to pay for the repairs to their ship as well. He glanced back at Fang, wiping away the sweat that had beaded on his forehead. "When's the next tournament?"

Fang cocked her head, stared at him for a minute. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Not until this weekend," she finally said. "You could use the time to build up your stamina. You depend on defeating your opponent before they can take you down, so you hammer them hard. That's good, but only if you know how your opponent fights. Take lessons from the girl. Be cautious. Don't expend more energy than you must."

Sora stared at Fang. She had really read that much into his fighting style in their brief spar? At a loss for words, he simply nodded.

The woman then turned to Kairi. "You're cautious. That can be good, but you need to take the offensive sometimes, too. Dodging and blocking isn't enough. Don't hold back because you're afraid of hurting someone. We have healers waiting in the wings, so there's nothing to worry about. Hey!" The last was directed at a pair sparring across the arena, and Fang stalked off in that direction.

Zack watched Fang leave and crossed his arms. "So, you really want to do this?" His expression was serious and Sora had a feeling that not many people ever saw this side of Zack Fair.

He nodded. "Yeah. Kairi and I can't depend on you and Cloud for everything. I know you want to help us, but you've done so much already and I don't want to take any more of your munny."

"Besides," Kairi cut in, "we'll be fine in the preliminaries. We've been trained to fight since we were five years old."

Sora's brow furrowed. He wasn't sure why Kairi had included him in that statement. He hadn't picked up a real sword until he was fourteen, and he was pretty sure that sparring with Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, and Riku using a wooden sword didn't count as "training". He almost questioned her, but she looked and sounded so confident about her statement that he held his tongue, not wanting to deflate her enthusiasm.

Maybe she had just said that to make Zack feel more comfortable with them fighting. After all, she had already lied to Zack and Cloud concerning how he knew the blond.

A wave of homesickness washed over Sora and he found himself longing for the Kairi he knew, the Kairi who sat next to him on the pier and begged him to never change, the girl whose heart had been tied to his.

After an hour-long cycle of spars and breaks, Zack approached Sora and Kairi, the latter leaning up against the wall and the former sprawled out on the sand. "You two ready to head back to the apartment?" he asked, his demeanor bright.

Sora let out a groan. "I don't think I ever want to move again."

Kairi laughed, a tired one, but a laugh nonetheless. "I'm looking forward to a shower. I have sand _everywhere_." She stepped away from the wall and, shifting her weight to brace herself, gave Sora a hand up.

Once he was standing, Sora brushed the sand off his clothes the best he could. "Before we head back to the apartment, though, we should stop and see Balthier. He should have a more accurate estimate by now. That way, we'll know how much munny we need to win."

Kairi nodded her assent then paused, a thoughtful look on her face. "You know, when we were leaving Radiant Garden, my f—father gave me some munny for our journey. I was looking for it this morning and I couldn't find it. It was in a small pouch that my grandma made for me. Have you seen it?"

Guilt rose up inside of Sora. "Well…" He stalled, hoping for some time to figure out what to say. If the pouch was from her grandma, it must have been special to her. He dreaded having to tell her that it was gone forever. He realized that he would have to tell her sooner or later and, even though she would be mad at first, she would forgive him—eventually. Sora opened his mouth, the words waiting to drop out and be spoken into existence.

A girl ran up to them, green eyes wide with disappointment. Her hair was red, several shades lighter than Kairi's, though, and in pigtails. She wore an assortment of bangles on her arms and beaded necklaces. One necklace had beaded strands that ran down her pale pink top, underneath her belt, and ended at her orange skirt. While definitely unique, the clothing still reminded him of Fang, somehow. "You're done for today, Zack?"

Zack rubbed the back of his head and gave her an apologetic smile. "Yeah. I was just about to leave. Maybe we'll spar tomorrow, okay?"

The girl nodded glumly before noticing Sora and Kairi for the first time. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't notice you! Are you Zack's friends?" Curiosity was evident on her face and in her tone.

"Yeah, they're staying with me and Cloud for a while," Zack answered.

Kairi was studying the newcomer with an assessing gaze. After a moment, she nodded ever so slightly and then crossed her arms. Sora frowned. Kairi was acting cold, as if she had seen something in this girl that Sora couldn't see, something she didn't like.

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Vanille." The girl stuck out her hand.

"Kairi." Her voice was clipped and cool, and she purposely ignored the outstretched hand.

Sora shot Kairi a look—filled with disappointment, warning, questions—and shook Vanille's hand. "I'm Sora. Are you a fighter here, too?" he asked, striving to make up for Kairi's rude behavior.

Vanille laughed. "Oh, no. Fang is my sister and she won't let me compete. I'm lucky that she lets me spar here."

"She's just worried about you, Vanille," Zack said. "She doesn't want you to get hurt." After Vanille nodded in agreement and Kairi leveled a glare in the girl's direction, Zack spoke again. "We'd better get going, you two."

Sora waited until they were out in the streets and Zack was several paces ahead before addressing Kairi. "Kairi… Why were you so rude to Vanille?"

Kairi's face hardened. "She likes Zack."

Sora had a feeling that she expected him to understand, to agree and leave it at that. It might have made sense to another girl, but he was clueless. So, he ventured, "And…?"

She let out an exasperated sigh, stepped out of the way to let someone else pass, continued on. "She's too young for him."

That wasn't the problem, Sora knew. If that were the only thing wrong, Kairi wouldn't have treated Vanille so badly. Unfortunately, Zack was slowing down to walk beside them and Sora didn't think he would get anywhere with Zack around.

* * *

Zack led them into the docking district and told them that he would meet them back at the market, since he had a few errands to run.

Sora suddenly felt out of place, standing in the middle of the crowd with no one that he knew. Kairi was there, but did he really know her anymore? He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and to bury the emotions building inside of him.

Something brushed his hand. Sora glanced down and surprise flooded him when he saw Kairi's hand wrapped around his. He looked up at her and was met with a warm smile that felt so _familiar_.

"Let's go find Balthier, okay?" Kairi suggested.

Sora nodded and she let go of his hand, leading the way through the crowd. He followed, watching for Balthier.

It was another familiar face that caught his attention first. The blond hair, the blue-grey eyes, the clothing. Stunned, Sora could do nothing more than stare for a moment. Then the boy glanced his way and recognition widened his eyes.

"You!" Sora blurted out.

The pick-pocket stared at him for a moment, then turned and ran.

Instinct pushed Sora to follow and, this time, he did. He followed the boy through the crowded streets, trailing along in the wake of confusion that the boy created. Sora tried to catch up with the boy, but his muscles had been worked to the point of exhaustion at the coliseum and they simply had nothing more to give.

Sora turned a corner and there was no sign of the pick-pocket anywhere. Kairi came to a stop behind Sora, breathing hard. "What… was that… all about?" she panted.

He sucked in a large breath and tried to get his own breathing under control. "He was… I just thought I recognized him." The realization that he hadn't kept track of where he was going dawned on Sora, and he glanced around to see where they were at.

He didn't recognize anything.

His stomach plummeting to his shoes, Sora turned around to try to find their way back, desperately hoping that he didn't get them lost. As he scanned the crowd, his heart leapt in his chest when he recognized one of the people coming toward him, holding a bag.

"I hope you weren't waiting too long on me. I just went to pick up some parts." Balthier walked past Sora and opened one of the doors. "Come on in."

Sora followed the man inside, gesturing for Kairi to come, too.

_Oh, thank the light._ How he had ended up in front of Balthier's dock after chasing the pickpocket, Sora didn't know. But he wasn't about to complain.

Balthier dropped the bag he had been carrying on a bench and called out, "I'm back! You haven't gotten into _too_ much trouble while I've been out, have you, Vaan?"

"Not at all. I went out to see if I could find a replacement aeroga part, but they were all out, so I—you!" The boy cut off his sentence when he appeared from behind Balthier's ship. His face had gone white and he looked as if he were about to be sick.

Balthier looked from Vaan to Sora and back again. "Do you know these people?"

The pick-pocket glanced at Sora before returning his gaze to Balthier, licking his lips nervously. "Well, you see…"

"He snatched my wallet right after we first met you," Sora cut in, adding an accusing glare for emphasis.

Balthier's head turned sharply in Vaan's direction. "You did _what_?"

"I didn't think—" Vaan muttered, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot.

"What, that you'd meet them again? _Light_, Vaan, you shouldn't be stealing in the first place! I should fire you right now. If you're going to steal either way, I'd rather you be a street rat orphan who steals out of _necessity_, rather than for _entertainment_."

Sora's eyes went wide. "No, no, no! You don't have to fire him! He can just give us the munny back and we'll be even, okay?"

Balthier crossed his arms. "You heard him. Give him his munny back."

Vaan chuckled and the sound was higher than Sora thought it should have been. "Um, I kind of… don't have it any more."

Balthier's eyes narrowed and he was quiet for a moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity. "How much was in there, Vaan?"

The boy winced. "I think you'd rather not know."

This time it was Balthier's turn to pale. "Oh, _light_. That much?" He let out a long sigh and turned to Sora. "First of all, I offer my sincerest apologies for the trouble my assistant has caused you. I'll consider your final cost as already paid and, in the future, I'll be willing to do any repairs on your ship for no charge. As it is, your ship should be ready in a week, if I can get all the parts in a timely manner."

Sora blinked, not sure what to say about this recent turn of events. Kairi, however, inclined her head slightly and murmured, "Thank you."

Balthier turned to Vaan. "As for _you._ You can forget getting paid for the next year. You'll work off what you stole, and don't even think that you can skip work since you're not getting paid."

"But—!"

Sora and Kairi slipped out of Balthier's shipyard and back into the busy street. They stood there for a minute before Sora spoke up.

"We should probably go find Zack."

"Yeah."

A pause.

"Sora?"

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you tell me that my pouch was stolen?"

"Well, um… I… I didn't want you to be sad."

The door they just exited banged open and Vaan ran out. He caught sight of Sora and rushed over. "Here," he said, shoving something into Sora's hand. "I thought you might want this back." He smiled, the expression forced and his eyes not meeting Sora's, before shoving his hands into his pockets and shuffling away.

Sora glanced down and his face brightened. Silent, he handed the object to Kairi, his eyes fixed on the road ahead of them. Even so, he bit back a smile when Kairi gasped and exclaimed, "My pouch!"

He nearly jumped when Kairi wrapped her arm through his, but he relaxed when she gave his arm a squeeze. It was a hug, it was a thank you, it was Kairi.

They made their way back to the market and Sora closed his eyes, pretending that they were walking home from school on Destiny Islands. A breeze blew in off the ocean and Sora expected that at any moment, he would be walking in sand.

He was happy.

His eyes flickered open when Kairi elbowed him, muttering something about watching where he was going. They were in the middle of a large crowd, the air was thick, and there was no sand. But there was Kairi—a different Kairi, to be sure, but still Kairi.

And he was still happy.


	7. Departure

**No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you-I really did update this story twice in the same month. Oh, and remember that character that I said was giving me trouble? Well, here he is. If any of you have any suggests on making him seem more... him-like, I'd really appreciate it. Writing him is truly an art. :D**

* * *

_A door loomed in front of him. He stared up at it, mixed feelings flooding his system and filling him with indecision. A sense of foreboding, as if destiny called him to open the door. Apprehension, because he wasn't supposed to be here._

_ Eagerness, to do what needed to be done and deal with the consequences later._

_ Slowly, as if moving through water, he stretched his hand out, pushed on the door. It responded to his touch, swinging smoothly into the room beyond._

_ Darkness._

_ He did not fear the darkness; he knew that no Heartless would be brave—or stupid—enough to try to venture here. Here, even in the darkness, there was light._

_ He stepped into the room, his feet guiding him by some instinct that he did not know he possessed. His feet nudged something raised in front of him and he stopped._

_ The pedestal._

_ His heart thudded in his chest, responding to his nervousness by pumping faster. Finally, unable to procrastinate any longer, he did the unthinkable._

_ He stepped up onto the pedestal without permission._

_ It was as if someone had taken the roof off the room and dropped the sun inside. Light exploded into being, and he had to cover his eyes to ward off the pain. After what seemed like hours but, in reality, was only a few seconds, he removed his hand and looked around._

_ The light was emanating from the pedestal. It lit the entire room, casting stained glass patterns on the walls that sparkled with what seemed like a thousand colors. _

_ If he concentrated, he could hear singing, but it was very faint and sounded as if it came from a great distance._

_ "Sora?"_

_ He spun around—that was his name, wasn't it? Kairi stood in the doorway, looking confused, hesitant, unsure. "Sora?"_

"Sora?"

He forced his eyes open, that single act taking much more energy than he would have thought, and let out a groan when the light invaded his eyes.

"Sora, it's late already and Balthier said the ship would be ready today. So get up and let's go!"

He contemplated just rolling over and going back to sleep.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're _still_ sore from the tournament at the coliseum? That was four days ago, now! Light, I swear boys can be such wimps sometimes."

Sora sat up, pushed his blankets off. "Hey! I'm not a wimp! And the only reason you won the tournament was because Fang said no one would bet on a girl so we'd get a larger percentage if I let you win!"

Kairi, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. You still can't beat me when we spar, so what makes you think you'd beat me in the tournament?"

Sora had to admit that Kairi was much better than he had expected. She had taken out most of her opponents without any difficulties—true, the preliminaries were designed for teens and so didn't have the level of competition the main tournament did, but it had still been challenging.

"Give me a couple minutes and I'll be ready to go."

Kairi nodded and disappeared down the hallway.

* * *

"We'll have to find someone to fly us to Twilight Town."

The two of them made their way down the streets of Ridorana. Over the course of their stay, they had learned how to navigate the run-down city and could find the way from Zack and Cloud's apartment to Balthier's garage with relative ease.

"Why do we need to find someone to take us to Twilight Town?" Sora asked. Kairi was a good pilot and between the two of them, it shouldn't take them too long to find the world.

They paused at an intersection that hadn't been there before. Sora glanced down each of the streets, looking for something familiar.

When he had asked Zack about the ever-changing city, the man had shrugged and said, "The city was built overnight, and it's still growing. Somewhere toward the cliffs, there are real buildings, but out here, you just stick stuff together and hope it stays. When you get to the worse sections of town, the streets will change in a heartbeat as people leave and others come in."

Kairi tapped his arm and pointed down one of the streets. A large boulder sat in middle of the houses that had grown up around it and marked the way to the shipyard.

"I only have a vague idea of where Twilight Town is," Kairi explained as they continued on their way, waving one hand for emphasis. "There aren't that many maps of the worlds; most pilots learn the routes by flying them or getting the information from another pilot."

"Well, can't we just get the route information and then fly ourselves?"

Kairi's eyebrows rose. "You're not serious. Sora, we barely made it this far, and I knew the way! No matter where Twilight Town is in relation to Ridorana, I can guarantee you we'll face a lot more Heartless than we did on the journey here. We can't just go flying around, hoping that we get lucky and find Twilight Town sooner than later. If we did that, the Heartless would be on us in an instant."

"Oh," Sora said sheepishly. "I didn't realize that."

Kairi gave him a look that he had seen many times from her in the week and a half they'd been on Ridorana. It was puzzled and intrigued and… _guilty_ all at the same time. He saw it whenever he slipped and said something to Cloud that touched on their shared history—even if the blond had forgotten. He saw it when he managed to beat the odds and win the preliminary tournament at the coliseum; when Fang asked him where he learned to fight.

He was learning to hate that look. He didn't know what it meant and if he asked, Kairi would dodge the question with, "Yen Sid will explain everything."

They fell silent, the chasm between them growing a little bit wider. Sora hated having such a rift between them, but he didn't know how to bridge it. And a part of Sora knew that, even if he did find a way to close that chasm, she still wouldn't be the same Kairi that he grew up with.

The silence continued until they walked into Balthier's garage and were greeted with a crash and a string of curses from somewhere behind Balthier's ship.

"Balthier?" Kairi called out.

"Yeah, give me a minute!"

After a few more crashes, Balthier emerged from behind his ship, kicking at something unseen. He walked over to them, wiping his hands on a rag. "Well, I did the best I could with her. She should get you to wherever you're going without a problem." A pause. "Out of curiosity, where _are_ you two headed?"

_To find answers._ "Twilight Town."

Balthier raised a single eyebrow. "Twilight Town? I wish you luck, kid." His tone was dry and seemed to hint that they would need more than just luck.

Kairi stepped forward. "We were actually just talking about that. We're in need of a pilot to take us there. Would you be interested? We can pay you."

The older man laughed incredulously. "Pay me? Look, I hate to burst your little bubble, but there's not enough munny in all the worlds to tempt a sane man to attempt a deep-space run to Twilight Town. The Heartless would be all over the ship before you were even halfway there. Trust me, you'd better find a different destination."

Sora's face fell. "But, we _need_ to get there… Are you sure you can't help us?"

Balthier sighed. "I suppose I might know someone who'd take you."

"I thought you said no sane man would take us." Kairi looked skeptical.

"I never said this man was completely sane. He's a scoundrel and the worst sort of scum, he has his own agenda and can't be trusted even when he says water is wet. He drives a hard bargain and if he doesn't, you'd better be on guard. But he's the only one crazy enough to help you."

Kairi opened her mouth, probably to tell Balthier exactly what she thought of his suggestion. Sora jumped in before she could utter a word, blurting out, "Great! Where can we find him?"

* * *

Sora stared at the building—if it could be called that—that sat in front of them. The walls were slapped haphazardly together and looked as if they would fall if anyone so much as sneezed. People lay sprawled out in the street and Sora was cautious not to step on them—or in anything else less savory. A stench hung in the air that was completely foreign to the brunet, but smelled vaguely like vomit.

"What _is_ this place?"

"This," Kairi said, her voice muffled but still filled with contempt, "is a bar."

Sora glanced over at her. She had a handkerchief pressed over her nose and mouth and what he could see of her face was twisted in absolute disgust. He couldn't really blame her. Unfortunately, the man they were looking for was inside.

"Kairi, you can stay out here while I go inside." If the outside was this bad, he didn't want Kairi to have to venture inside.

Kairi, however, had a different opinion. "I'm going. If this man bargains as well as Balthier says he does, you'll need my help. Besides," she said, glancing pointedly at the people collapsed in the street, "I'm not staying out here alone with _them_."

Sora took a breath, trying not to dwell on the stench or the feeling that this was a bad idea, and the two made their way inside.

The noise was deafening—almost enough to make Sora forget about the smell that had intensified upon entering. Almost, but not quite. The room was dim and filled with dozens of people—some slumped over tankards, others passed out on the floor.

Sora pushed his way through the mass of bodies, searching the crowd for the familiar face. He held Kairi's hand in his own, not wanting to get separated from her here. His eyes landed on the table in the back. _There!_

As the two approached the table, Sora began to catch snippets of what was being said.

"—then they made me their chief. I declined, naturally, since this in no way helped my predicament, what with being stranded there and all. But it was a nice gesture, nonetheless. Once I declined, they decided that the only way to remedy this now awkward situation was to eat me. I—"

"Jack!" Sora blurted out, dropping Kairi's hand and rushing over to the table.

The man turned and the beads braided into his hair clinked together. His hat sat on the table, leaving the red cloth that he had tied around his head exposed. He studied Sora for a minute, his eyes narrowed. When his gaze fell on Kairi, he stumbled to his feet, swaying a bit. He etched a bow that would have probably been charming had he not spilled his drink in the process.

"_Captain_. _Captain_ Jack Sparrow, savvy?" He went to take a swig from his tankard, but paused with a disappointed frown. "Empty again? Light, why is the rum _always_ gone?" Jack set the tankard down on the table and his gaze shifted back to Sora. He pointed, the gesture both incredibly graceful and absurdly clumsy at the same time. "Hold on, do I know you?"

Sora froze for a minute, memories assaulting him that were his and his alone. _Chasing cursed pirates, collecting the scattered pieces of gold, fighting the Heartless, Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth._

After a long moment, he swallowed and spoke. "Um, Balthier, over at the shipyards, said that you might be willing to take us to Twilight Town."

Jack stared at him for a moment, unspeaking. "Twilight Town? A deep-space run? Mate, you're not wanting to do that, 'specially with the lass. Heartless roam the deep-space paths, preyin' on those unfortunate enough to be caught venturin' out there. Makin' a deep-space run, for any reason, is suicide."

Sora's hopes fell with every word Jack spoke. If Balthier was right, Jack was the only one who would even consider taking them.

"Sorry, mate, but I see no profit in it for me." Jack, with a half-hearted shrug, picked up his tankard and made to move toward the bar, probably looking for a refill.

"We can pay you. Name your price," Kairi offered.

Jack stopped and looked back at them. "Lass, what I'm searching for, no amount of munny can buy." His tone was melancholic, filled with a deep yearning that surpassed words.

"Maybe we can help you find it." Sora spoke without thinking. Once the words were out, he realized that he should have consulted with Kairi first, since she was now glaring at him. But he _needed_ to get to Twilight Town, to talk to Yen Sid and find out what was happening. Find out how to go _home._

Jack fiddled with something hanging from his belt, almost absentmindedly, Sora thought. Finally, the pirate unclipped what looked to be a compass and opened it. He stared at it, his face curiously devoid of the expressions and emotions that seemed to characterize Jack Sparrow.

"Well now," the pirate murmured, almost as if he were talking to himself, "that's very interesting." Snapping the compass shut and reattaching it to his belt, Jack set his tankard back down on the table with a loud thud.

"You're in luck, mate. I've changed me mind," he declared, spinning around to face them. "I'll take you as far as Twilight Town, but it'll cost you a fair amount of munny, what with all the danger and potential for death. Savvy?"

Sora was about to agree, but Kairi cut in, looking skeptical. "Hold on, I thought you said you didn't want the munny."

Jack paused, thought for a minute. "No, what I said was I'm lookin' for somethin' no amount of munny can buy. The boy here has offered a wonderful solution. I'll fly you to Twilight Town in exchange for your assistance procuring this… _object_ I'm seeking."

"Then why are we still paying you?" Kairi demanded.

"You can't be expectin' a man to put his life on the line with no monetary motivation, can you, lass?" Jack somehow managed to look innocent and cunning at the same time.

"The danger is part of flying us. We won't pay you extra just because you're frightened." Kairi turned, took several steps. "Come on, Sora. We'll find someone else."

Sora looked between the two, torn. Jack was his only hope of making it to Twilight Town, but Kairi was… _Kairi_. His heart sinking, he turned to follow the redhead.

"No one else would be willin' to take you, mate."

Sora reached out and touched Kairi's elbow, feeling desperation rise up inside him. She let out a sigh and half-turned. He could see the desperation, the longing, plainly in her expression for the first time since they landed.

"I want answers, too, Sora," she murmured. Then she turned back to Jack Sparrow, her face once more a mask of indifference.

"All right, _Captain_, we will pay you. However, _I_ will determine the amount and it will not be based on how dangerous the passage is but on how little damage our ship sustains. Those are my terms. You may either accept, or we will leave you to your… _rum._"

Jack lurched forward, caught himself, and offered his hand. "We have an accord."

Kairi glanced down at his hand, her own stationary at her side. Her face was blank, but Sora could sense her hesitation and disgust so he hurriedly took Jack's hand in his own and they shook.

"We have an accord," he repeated.

* * *

Zack kept shooting looks in Jack's direction, uncertainty and worry evident on his face. Two bags dangled from his hand.

Cloud stood several feet away, his arms crossed over his chest and an indecipherable look on his face.

"Look, are you sure he's—"

Zack was cut off by a large crash and the three of them turned to look. Jack was staring at the mess by his feet with a somewhat surprised expression on his face. Balthier started yelling then, drowning out Jack's attempted apology.

Zack turned back to Sora and Kairi, doubt clear in his expression. "…reliable?" he finished.

"He'll get us to Twilight Town." Sora dodged the question, and Zack frowned.

"Thank you so much for taking us in these past two weeks," Kairi said with a smile, directing it at both men. "I don't think we would have made it this far without your help."

Zack grinned. "It was nothing. And it gave me someone to talk to other than old sourpuss over there." He gestured toward Cloud, the now-familiar sparkle in his eyes.

Cloud glared at his roommate, but Sora swore he saw the corners of Cloud's mouth twitch upwards a bit. "It wasn't _too_ bad," Cloud conceded. "And at least I didn't have to listen to that idiot—" He motioned toward Zack. "—for two weeks."

Zack chuckled, but when he turned back to Sora and Kairi, his demeanor was serious. "The two of you be careful, okay? And look out for each other; it's a dangerous place out there."

Sora nodded mutely, his eyes welling with the emotion that was building inside of him. He hated goodbyes; they never got easier, even with practice.

Kairi moved first—in a way, it surprised Sora, since Kairi seemed so strong. She stepped toward Zack and wrapped her arms around him. Zack let the bags fall to the ground and returned the embrace. After a minute, Kairi stepped back and smiled up at Zack, her eyes watery. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but instead she moved away.

Sora stepped into Zack's waiting arms, feeling the warmth and caring that was an essential part of who this man was flow into him. He bit his lip and blinked several times, and the phrase "I will not cry" became a silent mantra.

He _hated_ goodbyes.

Too soon, Zack's arms loosened and Sora stepped back. The understated protectiveness that Zack embodied fell away and Sora realized that it would soon just be him and Kairi. Yes, other people, like Yen Sid, would help them—he hoped—but it wouldn't be the same.

Kairi had approached Cloud and the two were shaking hands.

_"—ey! Is anybody out there?"_ Desperation, pleading, fright tinged the voice, startling Sora.

_Roxas?_ Sora threw the thought back frantically, even though he knew it was useless. The voice was already gone.

The whispers came intermittently, but they were always sort of hazy. If it were vision, it would be like standing in a smoke-filled room, trying to focus on a person fifteen feet away. A vague outline or, in this case, a whispered question, and then the smoke obscured everything.

He would have continued searching, sifting through the smoke in hopes of stumbling across something solid, but Kairi was looking at him expectantly.

Sora stepped toward Cloud. The blond held his hand out, but Sora ignored it and hugged him. Cloud froze for a moment and Sora remembered their first night on Ridorana. Cloud wasn't much for hugging.

He still held on to Cloud long enough for it to be classified as a hug before stepping away. He looked up into blue eyes, prepared to say something along the lines of a goodbye.

"She's looking for you, you know." The words slipped out of Sora's mouth before he could even wonder where they had come from.

Cloud stared at him, confusion written on his face. "What?"

"Tifa. She's looking for you."

Cloud's eyes went wide and he grabbed Sora's shoulders. "You—"

"I swear, Sparrow, if you don't get out of my garage this instant, I'll alert the authorities to your whereabouts!"

"_Captain_. _Captain_ Sparrow. Why do people have such a hard time remembering that?"

"Sora, I think it's time we left," Kairi suggested, her tone deceptively mild.

Sora craned his neck, and caught a glimpse of Balthier, angrier than he'd ever seen the man. He swallowed, suddenly aware of the tension between Balthier and Jack. Kairi was right, they needed to go _now._

Cloud's hands dropped from his shoulders and Sora turned back to look at the blond. For the first time since he met Cloud, sorrow was evident on the man's face.

"Is… Is she safe?"

Sora hesitated. The last time he had seen Tifa had been at Hollow Bastion. He had no idea where she was in this new world.

Cloud nodded, his face impassive once more. "I see." He walked out of the garage and disappeared into the street.

Sora stared after him for a minute in confusion. Cloud couldn't have possibly thought he was implying that Tifa…? He shook his head. There was no way Cloud would jump to a conclusion like that, right? He glanced one last time at the door, worried about what Cloud thought he was saying, before walking back to where the other two were waiting.

Zack picked up the bags he had dropped earlier and handed them to Kairi. "These are for you guys. I, uh, I hope you make it to Twilight Town safely."

Kairi nodded and Sora smiled. "Thanks, Zack."

Sora hated goodbyes.

As they turned and followed Jack into the airship, Kairi glanced at him, a puzzled look on her face. "Sora, what did you say to Cloud? He left in a hurry."

He shrugged. "I just told him that Tifa was looking for him. I saw a picture of the two of them, so I figured he might be worried about her."

Kairi let out a sigh. "You shouldn't have said anything."

Sora looked at her, perplexed.

"Tifa worked in the kitchens at Radiant Garden. When a world is consumed by darkness, it's best to assume that everyone died until you meet them again. It… saves a lot of wasted hope and disappointment." Kairi swallowed, the motion looking out of place with her stoic expression.

Guilt swept over Sora. "I… I didn't know." He was silent for a minute as Kairi stashed their bags in the storage area. "Were… were there a lot of people that you knew from Radiant Garden?"

Kairi paused. Her head fell and her shoulders slumped, giving him a glimpse of the sorrow that she still felt. "I grew up there, Sora. I knew everyone in the palace by name."

"I'm sorry." He wished he could take his words back as soon as they left his mouth. They seemed so… inadequate, so trite. Nothing he said could ever lessen this kind of pain.

"It's not your fault." Kairi turned and smiled at him. It was forced and filled with grief, and Sora didn't know what to say or do to make her feel better.

"Uh… kid! Zola! Mind giving me a rundown on how this ship flies?"

Sora turned. "It's _Sora_, actually."

Kairi rolled her eyes and the sorrow in them was hidden behind her mask once more. "You'd better get strapped in. I'll give _Captain_ Sparrow here a walkthrough on how she flies." With that, she brushed past Sora and headed to the front.

Excitement rose in Sora as he settled into one of the seats and fastened the straps. They would make it to Twilight Town, see Yen Sid, and get some answers. Everything would be back to normal before he knew it. _Finally_. He leaned his head back against the seat and let his eyes drift close.

"_No fair! Why do you get to be the knight _again_? I was the villain last time!" He glared at Riku, fists curled at his sides._

_The six year old held the wooden sword in his hand, the expression on his face reminiscent of the look their house mother got before lecturing them on not using the good spoons to find buried treasure. "Because Naminé is the princess and I'm gonna marry her. So you have to kidnap her."_

_Sora kicked at the sand. "Fine. But I get to marry her next time, 'kay?"_

"_Hey! Who's kidnapping me today?"_

_The two boys glanced up and smiled at the blonde running toward them. "Sora's kidnapping you today, so you have to go sit in the tower first. Then I'll come rescue you!"_

_Naminé giggled. "I'll be waiting, my knight! Come on, Sora! Let's go to the tower!"_

"What do you mean, you don't need to know where the breaks are?"

"Slowing down won't do us much good against the Heartless, now will it, lass?"

Sora slowly opened his eyes, feeling disoriented and confused. He had played knights with Riku and Kairi, hadn't he? Then… why was he thinking about Naminé just now? He let out a sigh that was lost as the engines roared to life.

"Rum? You're drinking rum! You're going to get us _killed_!"

"Light, you're an uptight one, lass. No one would make a deep-space run to Twilight Town while _sober_. Now go… sit down, or something."

Kairi took the seat next to Sora, muttering under her breath as she strapped herself in. "Rum! He's drinking _rum_ while piloting a ship! The man has no sense of decorum or self-preservation! Light! And I thought Rodul was bad."

"Uh, Kairi? Does… does the name Naminé mean anything to you?"

Kairi glanced at Sora, her look inquisitive and confused. "Naminé…? It sounds vaguely familiar. Why do you ask?"

Sora shook his head. "No reason."

As Ridorana disappeared behind them and the vast emptiness of space welcomed them into its cold embrace, lights on the control panel began lighting up in a symphony of colors and a siren filled the cabin.

Sora leaned forward, perched on the edge of his seat with his hands grasping the armrests so hard his knuckles were white. "What's that sound?"

Kairi had already abandoned her seat and was hurrying toward one of the gun turrets. "Heartless! Sora, get to the other turret! Jack, evasive maneuvers, _now_!"

The ship rocked to the side with the force of an impact. Kairi stumbled, catching herself against the wall before sliding into the chair at the turret. Sora fought with his straps, trying to get the locking mechanism to open. His heart was pounding and his hands were covered in a sheen of sweat, complicating what was supposed to be so simple.

"Sora!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying! It won't open!"

"Hold on to your seats, mates!"

Sora's world spun as the ship barrel rolled through space. He thought he heard Kairi give a little shriek, but he was more focused on keeping his breakfast in his stomach. As the ship righted, he let out a small groan. "How much longer til Twilight Town?"

Kairi's short, sardonic laugh was _not_ encouraging.


	8. Pirates

**Remember how I mentioned earlier that there are some characters that are just going to be out-of-character? This chapter introduces one of those characters. Because, honestly, this character in canon freaked me out. I was going to replace him, but I gave him an overhaul instead. To those of you who are curious, I based a lot of his new personality off David Edding's Belgarath.**

**Anyway, on to the story!**

* * *

The ever-orange sky of Twilight Town greeted them, filling Sora with relief. They had made it—somehow, miraculously. For a moment there, right before Jack had cut the power and sent them plummeting toward the landing docks, he had been sure they would have to pry his burned, mutilated remains from the wreckage.

Sora stumbled out of the airship, his legs weak and his hands sweating. He kept one hand on the side of the ship for support, positive his legs would collapse under him any moment. Normally, he didn't mind space travel, but Jack was…

"Mad! You're _completely_ mad!"

"Aye, lass, but we made it, did we not?"

Sora took several deep breaths, blocking out Kairi and Jack and instead focused on relaxing his tight, tense muscles. His heartbeat was erratic and beating so hard it was almost painful, but he figured that it would slow down on its own after a minute or two.

The clock tower was visible in the distance, the tall building rising above the town and casting a shadow that seemed to go on forever. He paused, studying the shadow. He couldn't remember ever seeing the clock tower cast a shadow before. After a minute, he shrugged. He'd also never seen the town from the top of a hill before, either.

Wiping his hands on his pants in an attempt to rid them of the sweat coating them, Sora stepped away from the airship. He nearly collapsed, the muscles in his legs no sturdier than water, but he caught himself against the wall. Eyes following the streets radiating out from the clock tower, he could see where the commons was, where the Struggle matches were held, where Hayner, Pence, and Olette's "usual spot" should be.

All that would have to wait, though. First, they had to get to Yen Sid's tower.

Sora spotted the tracks leading to the other side of town and strained to see just a little farther. Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to see the mystical tower from here.

"Hey, uh, Sulu!"

Sora pulled his gaze away from the town spread out before him and turned back to Kairi and Jack. Kairi had her arms folded across her chest and did not look happy.

"_Sora_," he corrected, even though he had a feeling that it wouldn't do any good.

"We owe him three thousand munny," Kairi said, her voice impassive and her face blank.

His eyes widened. "That much?" He had known that Jack's services wouldn't be cheap—he was, after all, Jack Sparrow—but that… that was just outrageous.

Kairi grimaced. "As much as I hate to admit it, Captain Sparrow upheld his end of the bargain and managed to get us here in one piece. Although the ship sustained… _slight_ damage—"

Sora glanced over at their ship. It was smoking in places that he was positive shouldn't have been smoking and was blackened by laser fire. And the entire right side was crumpled. Sora wasn't a leading expert on space travel and pressurized cabins, but he was sure that what was left of their ship violated nearly every safety code.

"—we _are_ alive and the ship… seems repairable."

He let out a quiet sigh but fished the munny pouch—a plain one that _wasn't_ a gift from Kairi's grandmother—out of his pocket. Sora counted out the munny and held it out to Jack.

The pirate snatched it away and quickly recounted it before hiding it away somewhere on his person. Jack smiled at Sora, a smile that sent shivers down Sora's spine, that spoke clearly of a plan that no one else knew about. "Now, mate, to discuss the details of _our_ agreement."

Sora studiously ignored to glare that Kairi shot his way.

"Um, Jack, Kairi and I are in a bit of a hurry. Maybe we could help you out afterwards, when you know the location of whatever it is you're trying to find." He wanted to help Jack—he _had_ promised—but they were so close to getting answers. His eyes flickered over to the clock tower.

"You'll be helpin' me now, mate. But it's your lucky day—what I'm lookin' for is right here in Twilight Town."

As Jack led them away from the landing docks and into the town, Kairi leaned over and whispered, "That conniving little… I bet he was planning on going to Twilight Town the entire time!"

Sora couldn't hold back a smile. Jack always seemed to have an agenda that no one else was privy to, except when he wanted them to be. After all… "He's Captain Jack Sparrow, _savvy_?"

Kairi rolled her eyes, but Sora could see the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and the sparkle in her eyes.

* * *

Two hours later, Sora came to the conclusion that he was never bargaining with a pirate ever again. In retrospect, he should have realized that much, _much_ sooner, judging by the death glare Kairi was giving him.

Oh, and the sword that was held absentmindedly at Sora's neck. That was a good sign that things weren't working out as well as he had hoped they would.

One of the pirates—a skinny, gaunt-looking fellow with what appeared to be a wooden eye—had been charged with making sure they didn't escape, but his attention was more focused on what was going on several yards away.

The rest of the pirate crew was gathered around Barbossa and Jack. The latter seemed to be intent on striking a deal of some sort; the former looked as though he was sorely tempted to just kill them all.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill ye where ye stand." Barbossa's rough voice sent a shiver down Sora's spine. He had no doubt that Jack was the only reason they were still alive.

"I happen to have access to a key, mate."

Barbossa scoffed. "Hear that, gents? _Captain_ Jack Sparrow has found himself a key, and he wishes to trade it for the Pearl." His tone was condescending and several of the pirates laughed.

"This isn't just _any_ key, Barbossa. _This_ key can open any lock, anywhere."

Kairi's fist connected solidly with Sora's arm, sending pain shooting all the way down to his fingertips. He turned to her, about to ask what in the name of light that was for. She was still glaring at him, but the sinking feeling in his stomach told him that this was different.

"You _told _him?" she hissed, anger twisting her face.

"What? I—No! You told me not to!"

"Then how else could he find out? He obviously knows and he's going to exploit that information for who knows what!" And she punched him again.

"Ow! Stop that!"

A hand wrapped around Sora's arm and dragged him to his feet.

"Well now." Barbossa ambled over, his eyes assessing the situation before him. "The two of ye seem to be havin' a disagreement. But it matters not."

Sora didn't like the way Barbossa was examining them—the same way the house mother had eyed different cuts of meat, judging which would be of more value.

The pirate captain grabbed Kairi's arm and hauled her to her feet, a nasty grin present on his face. "We could use the lad on the ship. And the lass should fetch a pretty penny at the market."

Kairi, still managing to look imposing with a six foot tall pirate looming over her, glared up at Barbossa. "I am Kai'ri al An'sem de Illumital, Queen of Radiant Garden. You _will_ unhand me."

Sora gaped at her as he tried to pronounce her name in his head, standing on tiptoe with the pirate's vice-like grip on his arm.

Barbossa was far less impressed—he threw his head back and laughed. It echoed around the small alley, bouncing off the brick walls and making it sound that much more menacing. Several of the other pirates joined in.

Kairi stood perfectly still, her back straight and her posture stiff. Her eyes narrowed and her hand clenched into a fist.

Sora had seen enough of Kairi's fights in the arena to know what was coming next. Silently, he begged her to look at him, just a quick glance, so he could somehow communicate what a bad idea this was.

Instead—he should have expected it, since nothing seemed to be working in his favor since he woke up in this strange world—Jack chose that moment to speak. "What say you, Barbossa? I give you a magic key and a queen, to boot. The lass will surely fetch a pretty ransom. All in exchange for the Pearl."

Sora watched in horror—and some amusement—as Kairi delivered a quick blow to Barbossa's stomach. As the pirate captain instinctively doubled over, she followed with another blow to his nose. Something snapped, and Sora winced as blood began to flow. Barbossa let go of Kairi, his hands flying up to his nose.

For a moment, no one moved.

And then Kairi was at his side, tugging on his arm, and the pirate that had been holding him was on the ground wheezing. The redhead was saying something, but Sora was just trying to make his feet move.

The pirates were moving now, toward their captain.

Sora realized he was running, Kairi pulling him along. Barbossa was yelling behind them, cursing and threatening his crew.

Kairi was asking him something, repeating the same thing over and over, but Sora's mind was still trying to cope with the fact that she had attacked _Barbossa_ and that they were being pursued by his crew. There was only one way this could end—badly. He stared blankly at her, wondering how in the name of light she could navigate the sharp turns they were continually making while looking at him.

In the back of his mind, he decided that he was never bargaining with a pirate _ever_ again.

"—Yen Sid's tower, and I could really use some help right about now! So, _please_ snap out of it, Sora!"

"Train station. Below the clock tower."

"Oh, thank the light! Which way?"

Sora glanced around, attempting to figure out where they currently were at without slowing down. It was getting harder to breath and his heart was pounding against his chest. He pointed and started to run down a side street, but Kairi balked, pulling on his arm to stop him.

"Dead end."

He glanced at the fence blocking the street and doubt rushed in. He desperately hoped that he was right, that not everything had changed. With more confidence than he felt, he looked into Kairi's eyes and said, "Trust me."

She hesitated, and something he couldn't decipher flickered across her face.

The pirates were getting closer. They were still out of sight, but Sora could hear them. Soon, they would round the corner and the chance would be lost. This would only work if no one saw them.

Kairi nodded. "Okay."

Sora slipped his arm out of her grasp and grabbed her hand as he ran toward the fence. The dilapidated wood was falling off in places, barely held together by the nails. He dropped to his knees and, his hands shaking from the adrenaline rushing through his body, pried a large section away from the corner.

He waved Kairi over and she offered him a tight smile before disappearing through the gap.

A glance over his shoulder told him the pirates hadn't caught up yet, though it would only be a matter of time. Holding the section of wood he had pried off in his hands, he inched his way through the gap, feet first. He pulled the wood back into place, hoping it didn't look too out of place and draw attention to their escape route.

As he secured it the best he could, Barbossa's incensed rant filled the air. "Split up and find them! If ye don't, I'll have ye wishin' ye were lucky enough to be drawn and quartered!"

Kairi glanced at Sora, raising a finger to her lips. As soundlessly as possible while still moving quickly, the two exited the alley. Once on the street, the two began running again.

Almost immediately, Sora's lungs began to burn, reminding him that their short respite had been too short and not much of a respite. But they passed The Usual Spot and a fresh wave of energy infused Sora. They were almost there. They were going to make it.

"'Ey! Over here! I found 'em!"

Sora turned and saw six of the pirates coming out of a side street. They had drawn their cutlasses and were much closer than he would have liked.

"Sora!"

He turned back and saw Kairi pointing to the large structure that loomed over the surrounding buildings. Several people milled around the front and a group of young children were running between the adults' legs.

"We made it," he gasped, his legs weak with relief and exhaustion.

Summoning his last reserves of energy, he sprinted through the crowd, Kairi at his side. They burst through the large double doors, ignoring the ticket master's cry of outrage and his demands that they stop right there.

The train yard was only a few steps away, and then everything would be okay. They would get on the magic train and see Yen Sid, and Sora would go home—this whole thing nothing more than another strange adventure.

Sora skidded to a stop, his heart in his throat and his breathing coming rapid and ragged. Two trains sat on the tracks, waiting for passengers.

Neither of them were purple.

His eyes had widened and he felt himself beginning to hyperventilate. "It… it should be here." Confusion filled his voice and, for the millionth time since this whole thing started, he felt lost, unsure of anything.

Kairi grabbed his hand, pulling him further into the train yard. "Keep it together, Sora! I can't have you falling to pieces on me yet!" Oathkeeper appeared in her hand and she shoved Sora ahead of her before turning back. "I'll hold them off, so figure something out _quick_!"

Sora nodded, not sure what to say, but the gesture went unnoticed as Kairi threw herself at the pirates. There were only six of them, but the others would show up soon.

_Okay, focus. There _has_ to be something here that will get us to Yen Sid's tower._

He forced himself to take a deep breath and block out the sounds of the fight taking place several feet away. This Kairi was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, something she had proven to him at the arena on Ridorana. He carefully scanned the train yard, looking for something—_anything_.

There had to be something.

"_There's nothing!"_

_Oh, be quiet, Roxas._ He threw the thought back absentmindedly, determined not to be distracted. There had to be a way.

A plaque on the far wall caught his attention. He didn't remember seeing it before and, from where he was standing, it appeared to have a keyhole in the center.

He started toward it, calling out, "Kairi, I think I found something!"

As he drew closer, he realized that it _was_ a keyhole and it looked familiar, even though he'd never seen it before. He summoned Redemption and a feeling of déjà vu swept over him.

_King Mickey, fitting Redemption into the keyhole. A flash of light, then…_

Sora blinked, but ignored the curiosity. He would have answers soon enough. If this worked.

Kairi was backing toward him, only an arm-length away. Her face was grim and her blocks were getting slower. The rest of the pirates, Barbossa included, had arrived and were crossing the train yard, drawing closer every second. In a matter of minutes, they would be overwhelmed and captured.

"Kairi, follow me."

She glanced at him, confusion written across her features.

In that instant, he pushed Redemption into the keyhole. Light surrounded him, blocking Kairi and the pirates from sight. He felt as if he was floating, but a second later, the light dissipated.

Instead of the train yard, he found himself in the glade in front of Yen Sid's tower.

Sora stared up at the tower. It seemed to defy gravity by merely existing and Sora vaguely wondered how many spells Yen Sid had to maintain just to keep his home from collapsing.

There was a small flash of light beside him and then Kairi was there, her grip still tight on her Keyblade as she glanced around, almost daring anyone—or anything—to attack her. Finally satisfied that there were no enemies present, she relaxed her posture and dismissed her Keyblade.

"Bloody pirates." She took a deep breath and let it out in a slow sigh before turning her attention to the tower looming over them.

For a long moment, neither one moved as they stared at the imposing structure.

Kairi leaned into Sora, nudging his shoulder with her own. The gesture was so familiar, so intimate, that Sora couldn't move for a long minute. When he finally glanced over at her, she was staring back at him. The expression on her face was hard to read—he thought it might be guilt and apprehension mixed with relief. But that didn't make any sense to him. What did Kairi have to feel guilty about?

"Ready to go find our answers?" She smiled, but it was forced and didn't meet her eyes.

Sora nodded, and the two approached the large door.

Kairi pushed it open, entering first. Her steps were cautious and she glanced around as if she were expecting an ambush at any moment.

Sora followed, but stopped just inside the doorway. He stared at the interior of the tower, confused and not quite sure what he was seeing. Instead of a series of spiraling staircases leading nowhere and pockets of magic making the air sparkle, there was a single staircase, flanked on either side by solid stone walls.

Kairi nudged him again.

Sora swallowed. The answers he'd been looking for were waiting at the top of the stairs. All he had to do was…

He took a step, his foot landing on the first stair.

Kairi followed behind him as they both climbed the spiral staircase in silence.

Another door waited for them at the top of the stairs. Sora's heart was pounding in his chest and his palms were coated with sweat. He wiped his hand on his pants before reaching for the handle. The door swung inward, silent and smooth.

They were met by a wall of books that reached all the way to the ceiling. Sora opened his mouth, about to ask how they were going to get past the doorway without disturbing any of the books. Before he could speak, the door—moving freely on its hinges—kept moving. Right into another rather large stack of books.

Neither of them had time to do more than gape in horror as a mountain of books crashed to the ground. Sora winced as other stacks of books, hidden from his view but still within earshot, followed suit. Then a third, and a fourth. The blood rushed from his face, leaving him pale and in shock.

Not even five minutes, and he managed to completely destroy Yen Sid's home. Oh, he was so dead.

"—spent _months_ organizing those books, and—" An old, grizzled-looking man exited from another room, looking furious. He stopped midsentence when he spotted Sora and Kairi in the doorway.

Sora stared at him. This man in Yen Sid's tower was most certainly _not_ Yen Sid. He was much shorter and his beard was neatly trimmed. His eyes were golden and narrowed in either thought or anger—Sora wasn't sure which.

"Who're you?" The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them and Kairi elbowed him sharply in the side. He ignored her though, too focused on who would be stupid enough to break into the sorcerer's home.

"_I_," the man said, drawing himself up, "am Yen Sid. And _you_ are _late_."

_The same man, looking much taller, glaring down at him. "He's _early_."_

Sora blinked, confused by the memory. He'd never met this man before, and he certainly wasn't Yen Sid. Was he? He took a breath, ready to question the man's identity.

Kairi spoke first. "Master Yen Sid." Out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw Kairi bow in greeting and his confusion skyrocketed.

"Just Yen Sid, now. I gave up being a Master a long time ago," the man—Yen Sid—sighed. "And I suppose you're better late than never. You cut it awfully close, though. There have been reports of increased Heartless activity everywhere—even on the Cornerstone worlds. And what happened to Radiant Garden… You'll have to start immediately if there's to be any hope."

Sora furrowed his brow, trying to piece everything together. It was useless. "Um, excuse me… Yen Sid. I just want to go home." He sounded desperate, but he was past the point of caring. Yen Sid was his only hope—of answers, of going home, of things being _normal_ again.

Yen Sid stared at him for a moment. "Home?" He paused. "Oh, yes. Destiny Islands, wasn't it? You can't go back, of course."

Sora swallowed, suddenly dreading what was coming. "Why not?" In a heartbeat, his mouth had gone dry and he had to force the words out.

"Why, it was destroyed. Ten years ago now, I believe."

Sora felt the muscles in his legs give out and the only thing that kept him on his feet was Kairi's hand at his elbow. His world was caving in on him; he felt so lost and all he could do was stare at Yen Sid in absolute horror. "Th-that's impossible." His breathing was getting faster and he tried to hang on to the hope that Yen Sid was wrong, that this was all a dream, that everything would be alright. "I was just there, with Riku and Kairi, and then I got this strange message and everything went black and I woke up in some strange place and no one remembers me and _I don't know what's going on_!"

Yen Sid frowned. "Are you quite sure?"

Sora sniffed and wiped at the corner of his eye. "What?"

"You said you don't know what's going on. Are you quite sure?"

It was Sora's turn to frown. "Yes."

"How peculiar." Yen Sid picked up a few books and set them on top of a desk that was already covered with old scrolls, papers with notes jotted down, and several opened books. "You're sure that Ansem didn't tell you anything?"

Sora nodded, impatience growing inside him. He'd waited long enough, now he wanted _someone_ to explain what was happening.

"Ansem never said anything about the simulation? Of course, he leaves me to clean up this mess. I thought it was a bad idea from the beginning, but by the time they thought to inform me of the developments, he claimed it was too late. Stubborn, headstrong man."

Kairi bristled next to him and it was his turn to elbow her. He finally felt like he was getting somewhere, and he didn't want another delay.

"What happened? With the simulation?"

Yen Sid fixed him with a look that suddenly made him dread what he was about to hear. "_You_ showed up ten years early. We weren't ready for you. You're lucky Mickey was in the area and managed to get you out before your world was consumed. He took you to Ansem. Next thing I know, Ansem shows up demanding information. I told him the simulation was a bad idea, but he insisted it was too late—you had already accepted it as reality. And you're sure he never mentioned it?"

Sora stared at the sorcerer for a long moment, trying to wrap his head around this… _absurdity_. It just couldn't be true. Could it?

He turned to Kairi. She was avoiding his gaze and suddenly he knew. But he had to ask, had to hear her confirm it. "All along… you knew?"

She nodded, still not meeting his eyes. "Not everything. But yes. I knew."

Sora swallowed, his mouth suddenly too dry. "Why didn't you tell me?" He tried to be forceful, to demand an answer, but his voice came out in a hushed whisper.

"What was I supposed to say, Sora?" She jerked her head up and her eyes met his. Her stance was defensive—she had taken her hand away from his arm and crossed her arms over her chest. "That you've been asleep in the basement for ten years and if there was an emergency, I was supposed to make sure you got out safely? Because that's all my father ever told me. I only met you once before, when we were five. And it wasn't even a real meeting. My father rushed you past without even telling me your name. Besides, I was a little preoccupied, what with the destruction of my home and the death of my father."

He fixed his gaze on a pile of books, blinked back the hot tears that threatened to fall. He felt like he was about to throw up as the enormity of what he was hearing finally sunk in.

_Kairi, laughing as she instigated yet another competition between him and Riku._

_Riku, sitting on the shore with him in the Realm of Darkness, waiting._

_Donald, Goofy, the King… Saving the worlds, making new friends._

"None of it… was real?" He managed to choke the words out, past the point of caring whether anyone could hear the tears in his voice and the lump in his throat.

Kairi's expression softened and her stance relaxed. She reached out toward him, but hesitated before pulling her hand away. "I'm sorry, Sora." Her voice was hushed and he finally understood why he had often seen guilt lurking behind her eyes. She didn't say anything else.

There was simply nothing else to say.


End file.
